Secrets and Lies
by NewHampshireGirl
Summary: The death of a marine leaves the team with more questions than answers and proves to be Tony's toughest challenge yet as team leader. Tony/Tim friendship centric but whole team is involved. Set after "Blurred Lines". Tony/OC, McGee/Delilah.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own NCIS or anything associated with it. They belong to CBS. I own Leah, Jack and Gracie _._

 **Warnings:** Tony/OC, McGee/Delilah, mentions of past Tiva, spoilers for past seasons

 **A/N:** This is an old one that I had started, stopped, took down, and now have resurrected. Before it didn't feel like it fit, now it does. I know it has been a while since I wrote anything. Hope you like this one!

* * *

 **Secrets and Lies**

Warm breezes tickled his cheeks as he stepped out of his old, beat-up, red pick-up truck. Leroy Jethro Gibbs pulled tightly on his jacket and made his way across the street.

Instructions had been to come alone. Gibbs didn't see the harm in meeting face to face with the frantic marine that had called him, said he'd gotten his number from someone he'd met overseas. He wouldn't specify _who_ and Gibbs didn't deem that necessary information at this point. If, later down the road he needed to find out where and who the marine had gotten his number from—he'd have McGee do his magic.

Right now it was about the nervous marine, seated on bench in Rock Creek Park. Gibbs paused to study him for a moment. He was no more than thirty, drumming his fingers against his thighs, flinching at the slightest clink of a glass behind him.

"Lieutenant Ryan?" the former marine inquired as he stepped up to the bench. The younger man looked up with a nervous glance. "I'm Special Agent Gibbs."

"Did you come alone like I asked?" Ryan questioned, eyes darting about the street. "No back-up waiting for you in that car?"

Gibbs shook his head. "Nope. Just me." _DiNozzo's going to kill me later when he finds out._ "If I feel the need to bring my team in later—I will. But for now, we're just talking."

Ryan ran his hands over his face, shifting slightly when Gibbs took a seat on the bench with him. "I shouldn't have called you. God, everything is such a mess!" He pulled his hands away from his face and looked at Gibbs. The former marine could see the uncertainty and fear flashing in the younger man's irises. "I never wanted to be a part of any of it, Agent Gibbs, I swear!"

"All right, Lieutenant," Gibbs said, softly. "Just tell me what happened."

"I can't! Damn it! I never should have called NCIS in! They're going to kill me!" Ryan gasped, hands shaking violently.

Gibbs reached out and gripped the young man's shoulder. "Lieutenant. NCIS can protect you. We can put you up in a safe house."

Ryan shook his head, furiously. "You don't know what you're up against here, Agent Gibbs. These are bad, bad people."

"How bad, Lieutenant?" Gibbs prodded.

"Bad. I can't tell you here, they might be listening," Ryan said. "They have eyes and ears everywhere in Washington."

"Everyone has eyes and ears in Washington," Gibbs replied. "I can't help you until you tell me what I'm up against."

Ryan smiled, sadly. "You can't really help me, Agent Gibbs. Eventually, they'll find me."

Gibbs slowly nodded his head. "Who, Lieutenant?"

"Here," Ryan said, pulling out a long, thin, black rectangle—something that Gibbs had once heard McGee refer to as a flash drive—whatever the hell that was.

"What is this?" Gibbs asked, taking the flash drive from the marine.

"All you'll need to know."

Gibbs looked at the marine, gratefully. "We'll get 'em, Lieutenant. I'll hand this over to my team and they'll find 'em."

Ryan opened his eyes and stared at Gibbs, lifelessly. "Your team any good, Agent Gibbs?"

"Only the best, Lieutenant."

He seemed to be put at ease now that the flash drive was out of his hands. Gibbs stood and pulled the marine to his feet. "Let's get you back NCIS and I'll call my team."

Ryan let him lead the way back to his truck. Gibbs unlocked it and helped the marine inside, glancing around the park. Tony would call it his gut—or ninja sense—but he felt like he was being watched. And if Ryan was right, that someone was out to get him now that he had contacted NCIS, it was probably best to bring the young man back to headquarters and set up a protection detail.

Gibbs felt the weight of the world on his shoulders. He knew that the team was short staffed since he retired. They'd been working hard, they deserved a weekend off—they should be spending their weekends with their loved ones not hiding away in rural areas protecting someone. Perhaps it was time to call Tobias—Gibbs was sure the FBI agent owed him a favor again by now and could possibly already owe Tony _several_ favors. Starting the truck up, Gibbs pulled out of his parking space and headed towards the Navy Yard.

"Your team have families, Agent Gibbs?" Ryan asked softly, calmly.

"One agent expecting twins," Gibbs said with a smile.

"What about the others?"

"Another has three kids, and a very independent wife."

Ryan sighed. "I'm sorry that I dragged them all into this."

Gibbs shook his head. "Nonsense, Lieutenant, they knew the risks the moment they signed up."

"Spoken like a true marine," Ryan mused. "Your friend in the Middle East said I could trust you."

"Yeah. Who was this friend?" Gibbs asked as they approached a four way stop.

Before the marine could answer, the passenger side window shattered in a hail of gunfire. The federal agent instinctively let go of the wheel to cover his head.

Glass shattered, tires squealed and the truck became airborne, catapulted through the air and landed in a ditch against an evergreen. Gibbs heard Ryan groan next to him once and then take one, last shuddering breath—all before pain and darkness took hold of him.

* * *

Scents of lilies and honey hit his nostrils as soon as he began to shift into a conscious state. Anthony DiNozzo felt a smile tug at his lips and he reached out, pulling the warm body sharing his bed with him, closer.

"Good morning, bella," he whispered as she stirred in his arms.

"Is it morning already?" she murmured, turning towards him.

Tony slowly blinked his eyes open and cast them over her delicate features. He smiled at her when her own eyes opened. "Yes. It's morning already. You know, it tends to come much faster when you don't go to sleep until two in the morning." He lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her, enveloping her into his embrace so there was no space between their bodies. "Comes much faster when you're doing other things too," he teased, pulling back and allowing his lips to linger over hers.

Leah traced a path with her fingertips down his jawline, feeling the rough stubble underneath them. Her eyes met with his and her cheeks pulled into a grin; she sighed. "Can we stay like this all day, Tony?"

"I want to stay like this, forever, Leah," he responded, snuggling them deeper into the covers.

"Me too," she breathed, her arms snaking around his waist and pulling her body closer to his own.

Tony grinned and buried his face in her hair, taking in a deep breath of her scent. He loved that scent. Loved waking up to it every morning, hated when he didn't. Kissing her soft, golden brown waves, Tony savored the moment. It wasn't often he got moments like these. His job, her job—they pulled them in opposite directions more often than not.

Leah shifted to be released from his grasp, but he tightened his hold on her. "What happened to staying like this forever?" he whispered.

"I want to, but I need to use the bathroom, unless you'd rather I go here…"

"Go. Before you ruin the sheets."

She laughed as he released her and she slipped out of the bed, running to the bathroom. Tony sat up and rubbed the remaining sleep from his eyes. Sunshine filtered through the large windows, giving the room the illusion that it was painted in gold, making it look larger than it was. A single dresser was all that remained from his old bedroom in his apartment; he still remembered the look on McGee's face when Tony had replaced his single bed with a queen. Apparently, at the time none of them believed him that he was ready to let people in. _McGee's still waiting for the other shoe to drop, almost five years later,_ Tony thought, amused.

Pulling himself out of bed when he heard the bathtub start up, Tony went to his dresser and fished out some clean clothes. Glancing out the window he could see that it was a beautiful day—and he had the whole lot of it to spend with Leah. He knew that being married to a federal agent wasn't easy and married to a federal agent that worked for one Leroy Jethro Gibbs was especially difficult—but she had understood from the start. Now, he was making it even more difficult being married to an agent that was leading a team.

In the bathroom he heard the bathtub turn off and then the door creaked open. He turned slightly to see Leah standing there, wrapped in a towel, smiling at him.

"Very Special Agent DiNozzo, would you care to join me?" she asked, seductively.

"You must have read my mind," he said, grinning and abandoning his clean clothes on the floor. "I was just picturing you, naked, in a bath tub."

Leah rolled her eyes, playfully as he crossed the room and pressed her into the doorframe, lowering his lips to hers in a fiery kiss. His hands burrowed into her hair, pulling her close to him. He could feel his entire body responding to her, her fingers as they pulled at his tee shirt.

Tony smiled breaking their kiss, "Why, Mrs. DiNozzo, do I get the impression you want to spend this beautiful day _inside_?"

"Would you rather spend it outside, Agent DiNozzo?" Leah teased, returning his passionate kisses. "I don't think it would be as much fun."

"Oh, definitely not," Tony responded, his hands reaching for the towel.

He'd just tugged it loose when his cell phone rang. "No, no, no! Not now!" he gasped against her lips. It kept ringing incessantly. "Ignore it! It will stop!"

She shook her head and kissed him one more time. "You can't ignore it; you have a job to do."

Tony knew that she was right and growled low in his throat as he reached above the dresser, yanking his cell phone down. He slid his finger over the screen and pressed it to his ear. "There better be a good reason you're bothering me, McGee."

" _Tony, there is. It's Gibbs. There's…there's been an accident. Tony… his tires were shot at... he lost control of the truck..."_

Every muscle in his body stiffened. Tony pulled back from Leah, running his free hand through his hair. "What the hell happened, McGee?" he snarled, anger coursing through his veins. Someone had hurt his family. Nothing made him more pissed off than when someone hurt his family. "Gibbs said he was going to the cabin for the weekend."

McGee cleared his throat. " _Metro isn't sure what happened. His car was found in a ditch in Rock Creek Park early this morning."_

"Son of a bitch," Tony growled. He found the jeans he had discarded on the floor just moments before and pulled them on. "Anyone else in the car with him?"

" _Marine Lieutenant Robert Ryan."_

Tony buckled his jeans and then pinched the bridge of his nose. The name didn't sound familiar. "Alright," he said taking a deep breath. "Call Bishop, call Abby. Get them into NCIS. I'll get in touch with Fornell and Ducky."

McGee stammered his next response, it had been so damn long since he'd stammered, " _D-Ducky's on his way…to the hospital…I…I called him…first."_

"Okay, good job, McGee," Tony said, gently. "Where are you now?"

" _At…at home."_

"Have Delilah drive you to the crime scene. I'll meet you there."

" _O-okay."_

Tony took one more, deep steadying breath. "Tim—listen to me—it's going to be alright." He wasn't sure if his partner responded, but Tony hung the phone up. He closed his eyes tightly. _Gibbs was targeted. Someone hurt my family. Hurt Gibbs. I'll be damned if they get away with it._

His eyes flew open at that moment and he pulled a lightweight sweater on over his bare chest. All thoughts about the day had flown out the window, all his relaxed feelings—gone. Tony felt like screaming, throwing things, beating up on a punching bag—anything to get his anger out so he could focus on finding the bastard responsible for hurting the man that had been more than a boss to him—Gibbs was a father. And no one hurt the people that he cared for and got away with it. Grabbing his badge and gun, Tony flopped down onto the bed and pulled his shoes on.

"Anthony?" Leah's voice was small. He had forgotten she was still there.

"It's not good," Tony whispered, looking at her, somberly. She had changed into one of his old, Ohio State t-shirts. He just wanted to hold her. _You have a job._

Leah nodded. "Do you…do you need me to do anything?"

Tony blinked back his tears and stood. He reached out and pulled her closer. "You're doing all I need right now." _I wish we could stay like this forever._


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Thank you for all the warm welcomes back. I have missed writing but wasn't sparked until recently. Hope you enjoy the next chapter!

* * *

"Special Agent DiNozzo, I'm Detective Caden," an athletic man greeted him when Tony finally arrived at the crime scene.

"What can you tell me, Detective?" Tony asked, fearful of the answer.

Caden lifted the yellow crime scene tape so the two men could walk to the edge of the ravine. "Joggers reported hearing the shots fired, series of rapid pops—probably an automatic assault weapon. When police arrived on scene they discovered Special Agent Gibbs car in the ravine. The passenger, Lieutenant Ryan was pronounced dead on the scene. Special Agent Gibbs was rushed to the hospital with a serious head injury from the crash."

Tony clenched his fists at his sides. At the top of the hill they stopped and he peered down. The truck was crumbled, glass shattered, and on the evergreen branches, the grass, there was blood. Some of it, Tony assumed, was Gibbs' blood. "Special Agent Gibbs shouldn't have been here."

"What do you mean, sir?"

"Gibbs retired a few months ago. He hasn't worked a case since then. I don't know why Lieutenant Ryan called him."

Caden frowned and handed Tony an evidence bag. "We found this in Agent Gibbs' pocket. It's a flash drive. Assume it's his."

Tony stared at the small, black plastic stick in the bag. Gibbs didn't even have a computer at home. He wouldn't have a flash drive. "Anything else in the car with him?"

The detective shook his head. "No. We did find an agent's card on Lieutenant Ryan, but when I called the cell phone number I was told it was disconnected. You might want to tell Agent David to update her business cards."

"Huh?"

"Agent David—her cellphone number has been disconnected."

"I…I know… I heard you. But Agent David…Agent David is dead."

"Guess that explains why her phone was disconnected."

Tony didn't respond. He stared at the card for the longest time, his mind reeling. How did Lieutenant Ryan end up with Ziva's card? She hadn't been in the States for years and she had been dead for over a year. So how had Ryan been led to Gibbs? When he turned the bag over he got the answer to one of his questions—Gibbs' name and number were written on the back.

It was one thing to have Ziva's card, it was another to have her card with Gibbs' number on the back—in her handwriting. Tony would recognize it anywhere. The crime scene was yielding more questions than answers and he wasn't sure were to proceed from here. Surely his former partner turned brief lover wasn't alive; her farmhouse had burned to the ground.

But Tali had survived, without a mark on her. It was a development that had startled Tony and Leah; one that they never had looked deeper into. Perhaps, they should have.

Tony ran his thumb over the bag. Looking at that card, he knew that this case was going to be anything but easy. He wanted to believe that perhaps this was a coincidence, but everything he had learned from Gibbs told him otherwise.

Either someone was handing out Ziva's old business cards or Ziva, herself, was still alive. The latter was impossible. Ziva had been dead for over a year. _No remains were ever recovered…_

"What do you think this means?" Ellie Bishop asked, alerting him to her presence.

"Someone's playing games with us," Tony answered.

"You don't think there's a tiny possibility that she might be alive? No body was found."

"I suppose there is a tiny chance she's alive."

"How does that make you feel?"

"What are you my therapist now?"

Ellie sighed and looked at him, softly. "She's the mother of your child—a child that was dumped on you last year, a child that your wife has adopted as her own—if Ziva is alive… doesn't that complicate things?"

Tony didn't need to answer that question—they both knew it already. Yes, it would complicate things. Shoving the card into his pocket, he told her to get working. She didn't question when he disappeared into the Charger or when he drove away. She knew as much as he did that he needed to get to the bottom of this and there was only one person that Tony could go to for the answers—Abby.

* * *

"Where did Lieutenant Ryan get this from?" Abby asked, staring at Ziva's card through the evidence bag. "Is she… is she still alive?"

"Unfortunately, I don't have the answers to those questions, Abs," Tony replied. "Can you see if you can pull fingerprints from this?"

Abby took the bag from him and gave him a determined look. "You'll have them by the end of the day. I'll get a team together to look over Gibbs' truck when it gets here."

Tony smiled, gently. "Thanks, Abs. I think this is going to be a tough one. Very little evidence at the crime scene and no leads. This might be my very first test."

She gave him a tight hug. "Don't worry, Tony, you're up for the challenge. I know you are."

He took a deep breath and hugged he back. He needed a hug today. "I hope my marriage is. This was supposed to be our weekend, Abby, just me and Leah, no kids. Peace and quiet… and well, other things."

"I wouldn't worry about Leah being angry," Abby said. "She understands."

"I'm never around to help with the kids," Tony lamented.

"That's why you hired the nanny."

"Yes, I know, but I want to help. I want to be there for my kids."

Abby pulled away from him and grabbed him the by shoulders. She glared at him. "Then you know what you have to do—you have to fill the extra spot on the team."

Tony winced. McGee had been after him to fill the spot as well, and now that the twins due date was getting closer, they were going to be stretched even thinner when the senior agent took time off to be with his family. Tony scratched the back of his head, "McGee, Bishop, and I have a good thing going. I don't want to mess with it."

"McGee and Bishop are going to kill you soon if you don't make a decision."

"It's not that easy."

"But it's been four months already. How many agents has Vance suggested? Dozens? Hundreds?"

"Stop exaggerating; there's been a few."

Abby continued to look at him sternly.

Tony sighed. "Fine. I'll make sure I pick an agent before Tim leaves on his paternity leave."

"Good," she said, smiling. She pushed him away, playfully. "Now, go. I have work to do."

* * *

Before heading back to check on his team, Tony decided that it was time to bring the Director up to speed on the case. The door was open when he arrived, so Tony took the opportunity to stroll in, smoothing his hair back and making sure that his sweater was pulled all the way down.

"How's Gibbs?" NCIS Director Leon Vance asked when he noticed who his visitor was.

"Critical," the team leader said, softly, "but he's stable. Doctors tell me he's going to make it."

Vance clenched his fists at his side. Forty-eight hours ago, after the MCRT had wrapped a murder investigation, Tony had been in this very office, requesting that his team be given time off to enjoy it with their loved ones. No one knew the importance of that more than Vance. He was a single father of two kids. He cherished every moment that he got to spend with them. "I'm sorry, Tony," he said, "I know that you'd much rather be spending this day with your family—not investigating a murder and an attempted murder of a former federal agent."

Tony ground his teeth and clenched his jaw. Damn straight this was not what he wanted to be doing on a Saturday, but Gibbs needed him. "McGee is pulling footage from the traffic cameras at the park, I have Bishop going over Ryan's phone records. Abby is combing over the truck. Not that there's much left of it."

"What can you tell me about the marine lieutenant in the car with Gibbs?" the Director inquired.

"Not much," Tony said with an angry sigh. "Two weeks ago he approached his CO and asked to be granted emergency leave."

Vance pursed his lips together. "No record before that?"

Tony shook his head. "No. Clean as a whistle."

"Where is he currently stationed?"

"Germany. He was in Afghanistan before that. Third deployment."

Vance sighed. This was nothing to suggest why he had been in the car with Gibbs. He was much too young to have served in the Marines at the same time as the former marine. It was entirely possible that this young man was a son of a former colleague, friend—it wouldn't be the first time that Gibbs had gone off grid to help someone in need. "Keep me updated, got it?"

Tony solemnly nodded his head. "Yes, Director," he whispered, before turning on his heel and leaving the office. _Why didn't you say anything about the card? Letting him know was too soon; I don't have anything on that yet._ At this point Tony wasn't sure where Ziva fit into all this—if she fit in at all.

Nothing in this case was making sense. It was obvious that Lieutenant Ryan did not know that Gibbs had retired, and it was obvious that Gibbs was was afraid if he told the marine that, Ryan would run in the opposite direction. Tony understood that his former boss had probably met with Ryan to convince him to go to NCIS, to go to the MCRT. Unfortunately for Ryan they didn't make it that far.

So, the question remained—why was Ryan coming to NCIS for help in the first place? Tony was hopeful that the answer was on that flash drive or that Gibbs would have more for him when he finally woke up. Until then, Tony felt like a puppy chasing his tail.

Ellie watched from her desk as Tony appeared above the bullpen. His face was hard, almost like it had been etched in stone. He took the steps two at a time and breezed into the cluster of desks with a determined aura.

"Go," he simply snapped. Ellie was confused, McGee wasn't.

"Didn't get much from the cameras at the park. It appears that Gibbs' car failed to stop and was hit by a white delivery truck, sending it into the ravine; we're not sure if the driver was involved in the shooting or not. The truck fled the scene, "McGee replied, calling the image up onto the screen. "I'm running the plates now but so far I've come up with nothing."

Tony's shoulders stiffened. "Any luck on those phone records, Bishop."

Ellie tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "Well, Lieutenant Ryan made two phone calls when he got home—one to his mother in Falls Church, and the other to Gibbs."

"H-how's Gibbs?" McGee asked nervously.

"Critical," Tony snapped, eyes narrowing on footage projected onto the plasma. "McGee, you running those plates through Maryland's DMV too?"

"Yes. Of course. All plates in the Metro/DC area. What…what do you mean by critical?"

Tony closed his eyes and gave his head a little shake. _Come on, McGee, don't regress on me now!_ "Doctors have induced a coma until his cranial swelling go does, he's had his spleen removed, and has a couple of broken ribs. He's going to be fine."

McGee eyed Ellie nervously. "Is he…is he breathing on his own?"

"As far as I know he is," Tony snapped. He turned on his heel and narrowed his green eyes on the younger agent. "Do you need to be taken off this case, McGee?"

"What? No!"

"Then stay focused on finding who did this. I need you."

Ellie could see some of the tension leave McGee's shoulders. It was a complicated relationship that her partners shared—one that she was still learning to grasp. Tony's threat and admission that he needed McGee seemed to have its desired affect. McGee quickly went back to work.

Tony turned towards her but he regarded her a bit more gently. "See who Lieutenant Ryan called before he came back to the States."

"Am I looking for anything in particular?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Use your baby gut, Ellie," Tony said with a smile, before announcing that he was going down to autopsy.

Ellie frowned after him before dropping back into her chair. She pulled Lieutenant Ryan's phone records back up and searched through them. She didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Just some phone calls to friends back here in the United States, probably making arrangements for when he got home—but there was one that was puzzling to her. "Hey," she said getting McGee's attention. "Why would Lieutenant Ryan make a phone call to Bahrain?"

McGee looked up from his own work. "Wait? Bahrain?"

"Yeah."

"Ryan travelled there before coming back to Washington. I doubt it was a pit stop."

Ellie watched as McGee put Ryan's travel manifest up onto the plasma screen. "Ryan flew commercial airline?"

McGee nodded. "According to his CO he requested it."

"So, why would he pay for a commercial flight home when the military would have provided him with a transport—free. It doesn't make any sense."

"I think we need to find out who he was seeing in Bahrain."


	3. Chapter 3

**Warnings:** Same as usual.

 **A/N:** Thank you for the feedback everyone! I'm so excited to share this one with you! To be honest I had been feeling a lot of love for this verse myself and just decided one day to sit down and write and see what happened. I am completely in love with this verse all over again, apparently I needed to just take a step back. I hope you enjoy this next chapter!

* * *

There was a musty smell in evidence locker, it always seemed to get that way in the summer when the humidity settled in. Tony began to carefully find the case he was looking for, glancing over his shoulder to make sure no one on his team had followed him. He didn't want everyone to know what he was looking into just yet. He wasn't even sure where this was leading him.

Pulling the box that was dated from May 2016, Tony placed it on a table and opened the top. There was very little in this box. Photographs of the crime scene where the team had taken Trent Kort down; Tony hadn't been present for that and this was the first time he was seeing the photographs.

Along with the photos were emails that Tim had uncovered ordering the destruction of the farmhouse and Eli David's files that were supposedly inside. Tim had traced those emails back to Kort, but Tony had always felt that it was a bit too easy—Kort would have covered his trail better. Which led the SSA to believe that Kort was somehow involved in something much bigger than what NCIS had been led to believe.

Tony may not have liked Kort, but he doubted that Kort wanted those files destroyed. He had been the type of man that would have used the files to blackmail people, just like Eli David. Tony's hunches had never really been pursued because at the time he just didn't care.

He had been handed the largest curveball of his life in the tiny form of Tali, and from there things had spiraled so far out of his control that he had actually written Leah a suicide note. Months and months of therapy sessions later, Tony was back to his old self, but all doubts in the case had been pushed from his mind. Until now, when Ziva's card had surfaced in the pocket of a dead marine.

Finding what he was looking for, Mossad's report on the farmhouse fire, Tony placed the top back onto the box and signed the file out. He put the box back onto its self and headed towards the elevator.

Even though remains at the house had been found, there had never been a positive identification and there had never been any explanation as to why Tali had been found alive and made it to the United States with a full go-bag. Did Ziva know that the files were in the house? And if she did, did she make sure Tali was safe with Mossad before returning to the house?

Mossad was never going to answer those questions for him. Tony was certain they were involved in Ziva's death and Kort was dead. Convenient for Mossad.

Tony was going to have to look elsewhere for answers. He sighed and stepped off the elevator. Glancing into the bullpen he could see Ellie and Tim hard at work.

"Hey!" Tim said when he saw the team leader. "We got something!"

"You do?" Tony asked, surprised. So far, this case had been cold as ice.

Tim nodded. "Yes. We started looking into where Ryan went before asking for leave time."

Tony cocked an eyebrow in interest. "And?"

Ellie answered, "A year and a half ago, Ryan started making trips to Israel, and then Bahrain. We can't find any connections there or why he was going, yet. He's made various phone calls to an unlisted number in that time, but about nine months ago, the phone calls stopped… until two weeks ago. Ryan went to Bahrain one last time before returning to Washington."

"He was seeing someone that didn't want to be found," Tony guessed.

"We're still working on that," Ellie said. "I've pulled his credit cards to see where he went while there."

"That's a good start."

"Lots of coffee places, cafes. All very public."

"Lessen the chance of getting killed right out in the open."

Tim typed something up on his computer and pulled grainy camera footage. "This is from nine months ago, it's not very clear, but Ryan was meeting a woman. Unfortunately her face is hidden from her head cover, but it's definitely Ryan."

Tony felt his stomach lurch. Ryan was meeting a woman. The woman on the screen could be Ziva, she had the right height and build, but… "Keep digging."

His best friend saw the panic on his face. "Tony, something wrong?" Tim questioned.

He straightened his shoulders and turned to look at the SFA. "No," Tony replied. "I'm fine."

"Tony, Ryan was seeing a woman—that could be where he got the business card," Ellie said.

"What business card?" Tim inquired.

"Ziva's," the team leader whispered.

Tim looked shocked. "How… how did Lieutenant Ryan get Ziva's card. She's been dead for a year."

Tony took a deep breath. "That's what I'm trying to figure out. Although, that video is pretty damning evidence that she might still be alive."

Ellie looked away from the screen and back at her computer, where she had Ryan's travel manifest loaded. She decided to go even further back than a year—she went back four. "Ryan did travel to Israel, four years ago."

"Where in Israel?"

"Tel Aviv."

"I don't recognize him. How would he know where to find Ziva?"

"That's the least of our concerns, Tim. Any of Ryan's old buddies stationed near here?"

"Two at Quantico."

"Go. Talk to them. I need to update Vance," Tony ordered. "Everything is a whole lot more complicated now."

* * *

"Robert was here? In the States?" Allen Drew asked, sounding surprised.

"I take it that you had no idea he was coming home," Tim said.

Drew shook his head. "No, to be honest with you after our deployment overseas together, we didn't keep in touch. He went to Germany and I came here."

Tim nervously wrung his hands. "Did you ever meet NCIS Special Agent Ziva David?"

"Name doesn't sound familiar. Why?"

"Lieutenant Ryan had her card on him when he died."

"He did have some trouble with new officers stationed with us," Drew said with shrug, "Heard him asking around if anyone knew a good agent. But we were reassigned shortly after that."

Tim tapped his pen against his leg, brow furrowing. "What kind of trouble was Ryan having?"

Drew shrugged again. "Usual stuff. They didn't like the fact that he was gay. Ya know, typical homophobic harassment."

He'd ignore the burning question as to why Drew never did anything to stop it and instead asked, "Do you know if Lieutenant Ryan went to see Agent David?"

"I know that he went to Israel before going to Germany."

"Israel? Why?"

"He was religious. Wanted to see the Holy Land."

Tim wrote some notes on his notepad and thanked the marine for his time. They had already established a timeline when Ryan went to Israel, if they continued to dig, they might be able to place him with Ziva before she died. It didn't answer any questions as to why Ryan was traveling to Bahrain several months ago, but it was a start.

He met up with Ellie at the car. She had gotten a lot of the same answers, except she knew the name of the marine that had given Ryan the card. He was still overseas and Ellie had called to set up a meeting in MTAC.

"The dates I got suggest that Ziva had just left NCIS, resigned actually that May," Ellie said. "Her cellphone for NCIS was still activated, Ryan might have called it, and she told him to come to Israel."

"In May she was still thinking about coming home to D.C," Tim replied. "Tony was going to see her when he was shot at; she disappeared after that."

"So, it's possible that he went to see her in Israel and she gave him Gibbs' number," Ellie said. "Why wait until now to contact Gibbs?"

"He was reassigned to Germany, so the problems with the other officers ceased," Tim supplied.

Ellie agreed. "Do you think Ziva contacted him later?"

Tim pursed his lips. "Maybe. But why? The answer is on the flash drive. I need to crack that encrypted file—and fast."

* * *

Tony clutched his coffee and waited in MTAC for the screen to come up. After updating Vance on what they had learned so far, he had been ordered to get in touch with colleagues of Ryan's in Germany. He had been given a name by Ryan's CO, Spencer White. They had been buddies at boot camp; if anyone knew what was going on it would be White.

"Sir," the technician said, getting his attention, "they're ready for you."

"Patch it through," Tony ordered, taking a slow sip of his coffee.

On the screen a young man in his late twenties appeared. "Special Agent DiNozzo?"

Tony offered a small smile. "Yes. Thank you for chatting with me."

"Anything to help find who killed Bobby."

"Do you know why Lieutenant Ryan was traveling to Bahrain?"

White's jaw clenched. "Guess, this isn't such a secret anymore. Several months ago someone came to talk to Ryan about a former NCIS agent; they were looking for her, noticed that he had been in Israel to see her a few years prior."

Tony felt his veins starting to run cold. "Was the agent's name Ziva David?"

The marines nodded, gravely. "It was. Ryan never really told my why they were looking for her, but he didn't get good vibes. He got in contact with her. Next thing I know, he asked for leave. When he returned he said he had gone to see Agent David in Israel, something about his vibes being right."

"Nine months ago he went to Bahrain."

"Yeah. He said it was for leisure. I suspected it wasn't."

"Before coming back to Washington he went there again. Is it possible he was meeting Agent David?"

White looked confused and shook his head. "Bobby told me that she was killed in a house fire last year. I saw the news reports myself."

Tony could see that whatever Ryan was doing with Ziva, White didn't know the details. "Do have a description of the person that came to see Ryan?"

"Male, tall. Middle Eastern. That's all I can recall, Agent DiNozzo. I only glanced at him briefly."

"Okay," Tony sighed, "Thank you, marine, for your time."

He signaled for the feed to be cut. Once the room went dark, Tony downed the rest of his coffee. He needed a refill. He needed a break from this case… he needed a break in this case.

Tony tossed his empty coffee cup into the trash on his way out of MTAC. A tall, middle easterner man had gone to see Ryan; it didn't mean anything, but he had a funny feeling it was Mossad. Who else would be looking for Ziva from the Middle East? He was not looking forward to the phone call he had to make next. After they had brought Tali to him last year he had been hoping that would be his last brush with Mossad—it seemed that they were just not going to go away.


	4. Chapter 4

**Warnings:** Same as usual.

 **A/N:** Thank you everyone for all the support. I hope you are enjoying the story!

* * *

"Abba!" Tali shouted, joyfully, when she saw her father.

Tony managed to put on a smile for his daughter. He sat down at the table with his in-laws and his children, reached out and ran his fingers through Tali's hair. "Hi baby. Are you having fun with Nana and Grandpa?"

Tali smiled up at him, her hazel eyes sparkling. She was so happy and carefree; it broke his heart that her young life could be drastically changed yet again. "Nana took me to get my toe nails painted. Grace is still too little."

"We're surprised to see you," Katherine Dawson said. "I thought you had a whole day planned with Leah."

"I did; plans change," Tony answered, softly. "I was called into work. Tali, I need to ask you some questions."

"Ok," Tali said, smiling at him.

"Wait? Are you interrogating her?" John Dawson questioned.

Tony took a deep breath. He was certain he wasn't going to get anything passed his father-in-law. "Do you remember anything about the house you lived in with Ima, Tali?"

Tali titled her head. "It wasn't a house, Abba. It was a tall building. Like the hotel we stayed in when we went to New York City."

"An apartment? It wasn't a farmhouse?"

"No, Abba, there were no animals at Ima's house."

"What about trees?"

"No. It was in the city."

Tony could picture Tali, sitting in Leah's lap, pleading not to be taken away. He had assumed she meant Ziva taking her away from the farmhouse… perhaps it was something entirely different. He leaned over and kissed her cheek. "Thanks sweetie."

Tali went back to her coloring and chatting with her brother, unaware of the inner turmoil that her father was in. The world was so much simpler to her. "Abba, are you going to have lunch with us?"

"I have to go back to work," Tony answered her, truthfully.

"Tali, why don't you and Jack go with Nana and Grace to wash up," John suggested, eyeing his wife.

Katherine whisked the children away, leaving the two men sitting at the kitchen table.

Tony knew he was about to be interrogated himself.

John leaned forward, resting his hands on top of the table. "Does Leah know you're investigating Miss David's death?"

"Not yet," Tony replied, not surprised that John knew exactly what Tony was doing. "Someone gave a marine Gibbs' number; that marine was killed this morning. It's led us to Ziva."

"She died in that fire," John told him, as if he didn't know. "Or… did someone want you to think that she died in that fire?"

Tony remained silent.

John smiled. "You're not at liberty to say."

He shook his head. "I'm not at liberty to say."

His father-in-law sighed. "Very well, just make sure you don't blindside Leah."

"I wouldn't dream of doing that, sir."

"You'd be sleeping on the sofa for a month."

Tony grinned, softly. "More than a month."

John sipped his coffee and nodded in agreement. He trusted his son-in-law to do right by his daughter. When they first met, their relationship had been a rocky one—John was skeptical of Tony's intentions with Leah, however, over time the former lawyer had learned to respect the federal agent.

Since becoming a father, Tony understood where John had been coming from more now than he did back then. He wanted the world for his children, especially his girls. "Can I ask you something? A legal question?"

"Of course."

"If it turns out that Ziva is alive…"

"I thought you weren't at liberty to say that?"

" _Hypothetically_ speaking if she's alive… where does she stand legally in regards to Tali?"

John put his coffee mug down and sighed. "Leah's adoption would be nullified; her legal rights taken away. As for Ziva, courts are historically more sympathetic to the mother than they are the father. At best, you could be looking at joint custody."

Tony looked down at the table, trying to soak all that in. How could a mother that had left her child for over a year have any legal rights? "I just don't want her to swoop in here and take Tali. It wouldn't be in Tali's best interests. She's used to Leah, she's used to Washington—it's her home."

"My suggestion then, Anthony," John said, "is to get a good lawyer."

"Yeah," Tony said with a huff of frustration, "I was afraid you were going to say that."

* * *

A year ago he would have been thrilled to learn that Ziva was alive, but a lot of things had changed in a year. Now, while the idea made him happy, he certainly understood the complications that came with the revelation. Tim couldn't imagine what was going through Tony's head. This could change the entire fabric of his best friend's family.

Tim didn't want Ziva to really be dead, but reintroducing her back into the fold of their lives, when she had been absent for so long, he wouldn't even know where to start. There were a lot of hurt feelings between all of them because of how she left NCIS, how she was silent after staying in Israel, and then how she didn't even bother to let Tony know he had a daughter. It would be long hours with a therapist to get them back to where they had once been.

"Why do you think she did it?" Ellie asked, breaking the silence of their ride back to headquarters.

"Why do I think she did what?" Tim retorted.

"Ziva, why do you think she faked her death and hid for this whole time?"

"First of all, we're not sure it's her."

"Okay…hypothetically speaking—if she is alive, why hide?"

He didn't know. Tim had been trying to answer that question since it was revealed there was a possibility that Ziva was alive. Why would she hide? Why would she leave Tali? "Maybe she thought her daughter was going to be safer."

She pursed her lips. Ellie had thought of that possibility too. However, Ziva had been the only caretaker that Tali had known, her mother would not have just left her. "Do you think maybe Tali was taken from Ziva?"

Tim felt his stomach knot. "Taken?"

Ellie nodded. "We both know Mossad is shady."

"So you think Mossad took her?"

"If they wanted something from Ziva perhaps…like Eli David's files."

Tim didn't say anything.

Ellie looked out the window at the passing trees. "You don't believe that Trent Kort was the only one looking for those files do you?"

"No."

"I think you have your answer."

"To what?"

"To why Ziva went into hiding. Mossad."

* * *

Abby intercepted him just before he was about to go see Gibbs at the hospital. "I pulled two sets of fingerprints from the business card, Tony."

Tony shoved his hands into his pockets and patiently waited for her answer. Judging from the look in her eyes, he knew what she had found before she even told him.

"It had Lieutenant Ryan's and Ziva's prints," she said. "That confirms it was a card in Ziva's possession."

"Ryan started going to Bahrain three months after Ziva was killed," he informed her. "He also made a trip to Tel Aviv before her death."

"What do you think he was doing in Israel?"

"Before her death, someone came asking about Ziva, I think someone from Mossad. Ryan went to Israel to warn her, he was suspicious."

She grabbed his shoulders and looked at him. "Tony. She never would have left Tali like this."

He stared at her for a moment. "I know."

"Remember when Tali said don't take me away like Ima?"

"Everyday."

"What if it wasn't Ziva that took her away? What if it was someone else?"

Tony felt his mouth go dry. "The thought has crossed my mind."

Abby let go of him. "I have the slugs from the tires of Gibbs' truck to test. I'll let you know what I find."

He thanked her and took a moment for himself before stepping into the elevator. Tony knew that this case rested on the one thing they didn't have—Eli's files.

Just like the farmhouse, the files were gone. Tony and the rest of the team were going to have to put the pieces of this puzzle back together without them. Right now, it was proving to be extremely difficult because the one person that could give them the answers was dead.

Tony really needed to talk to Leah; she needed to know what was happening. He didn't want to worry her but at the same time he didn't want her to be blind sided. He pulled his cell phone out and shot a text to Tim— _went check in with Ducky. You're in charge until I get back._

* * *

It was quiet in the ICU at Bethesda Naval Hospital. Tony sat in a chair, contemplating all that had transpired in the last twenty-four hours. His eyes fixed on the prone form in the bed, hooked up to every machine imaginable. Flashes of memories came at him—Gibbs strapped to a gurney, Jenny Shepard asking if he thought Gibbs was in pain—Tony sighed, heavily, exhausted.

"Never thought we'd be here, like this again, boss," he whispered. "At least this time you aren't choosing to stay in the coma. That's for your own good, ya know."

Only response he got was the beeping of heart monitors and the puff of the respirator. Tony twirled the signet ring his father had given to him between his fingers. It helped him think and right now he had a lot to think about. "You'd be happy to know that your little jaunt off grid the other night has now led us to another dust-up with Mossad."

Tony let a small smile grace his features. "You never did anything small, boss. Always had to go for the big bang."

A nurse quietly entered the room, made her rounds and offered a reassuring smile in Tony's direction before leaving. Ducky had spent the afternoon with Gibbs, leaving the autopsy of Lieutenant Ryan to Jimmy Palmer. But Tony couldn't ask him to this alone, so he'd come over and given him a break.

He sighed, again, feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders. "We're gonna get them, boss. I won't let them get away with what they've done to you or to anyone else. I'm done with Mossad messing with us."

"Mossad?" Ducky questioned, returning with his tea. "Did I hear you correctly, Anthony?"

"You did," Tony said, running his tongue over his lower lip. "Your hunches about Ziva's death being more than it seemed are panning out."

Ducky sat down. "Oh dear," he sighed. "I knew everything was a little too clean."

Tony glanced at Gibbs. "I've re-read the reports; Kort was telling the truth, no one was supposed to be at that house. He just wanted the files and if I know Kort, he wanted the files in tact, not destroyed."

"He was a devious sort."

"Maybe if I had been right in the head last year, I would have seen it sooner."

"Anthony," Ducky said, gently. "You were recovering from your injuries, handed a child you never knew you had and had to deal with the death of a woman you once cared about. Do not bring yourself down over this."

"Mossad led us to believe that Ziva was dead," Tony replied, "And we did their dirty work by killing Kort."

Ducky clutched his tea between his hands. "If Ziva is alive—where did she go?"

Tony's shoulders stiffened and he leaned back in his chair. "We think she's in Bahrain. Lieutenant Ryan was going to see her, or that's our theory."

"Perhaps he was trying to get a message to Gibbs from Ziva."

"Something I'm trying to figure out."

His cellphone began to ring, interrupting their conversation. Tony pulled it out of his pocket and answered, "DiNozzo."

McGee nervously responded back, " _Are you still at the hospital?_ "

"Yes. Why?" Tony asked.

" _I finally cracked that file,_ " McGee said, " _you need to get back to NCIS—now._ "


	5. Chapter 5

**Warnings:** Same as usual!

 **A/N:** Update one of two for this week. The next one should be up Friday night or Saturday! Enjoy!

* * *

Things were never easy with the MCRT, and Leon Vance did not expect that to change now that Tony DiNozzo was in charge of the team. Still, he was having a hard time getting used to Tony's timely updates and his tendency to knock when he wanted to enter the office. He had once believed Gibbs and Tony to be very similar in styles, but he was finding that they were quite the opposite.

Gibbs had a tendency to hide things from Vance until he felt the time was right to bring the director up to speed. Tony didn't waste anytime when something came up that the director needed to know; so the moment he had learned about the file on the flash drive, he had charged up to Vance's office and knocked on the door.

"What exactly am I looking at?" Vance questioned, looking at what Tony had displayed on his plasma screen.

"Eli David's personal files," Tony answered, gravely. "Abby is running a fingerprint test on the flash drive now—be we think Lieutenant Ryan got them from Ziva."

Vance raised a curious eyebrow. "He saw Ziva before her death last year?"

Tony set his jaw. "Actually, we have evidence to suggest that Ryan obtained the files from Ziva _after_ the farmhouse fire."

If the director was surprised by that, his face didn't show it. "Where do you believe Ms. David to be right now?"

"Bahrain."

"Then you and Special Agent McGee should go to Bahrain."

"That would leave Bishop solo—maybe Tim should stay here."

Vance shook his head. "I'm not letting you go overseas by yourself. That was a common mistake I made while Gibbs was in charge of the team. See if Agent Torres is available to help Agent Bishop for a few days."

Tony silently agreed and turned to go. "I suppose you want to be updated regularly once McGee and I reach Bahrain."

"You're right."

"Very well, sir, next time we talk—it will be from Bahrain."

Closing the door behind him, Tony straightened his sweater. _This_ was not how he wanted to be spending his weekend. Since Grace had been born, Tony and Leah had not had a lot of alone time together. This weekend was supposed to be for them—about them—and he was bailing on her.

Tim stood up when Tony entered the bullpen. "Found the van. Bishop and I were just going to go check it out."

Tony stopped him. "Don't. You and I have a flight to catch in two hours. Grab your go-bag. We're going to Bahrain."

"Okay, but what about the driver of the truck?"

"Vance said to see if Torres is free."

Ellie picked up her phone and began to dial. "I'll call him now."

Tim opened his drawer and grabbed his go-bag. "I'm ready."

Tony grabbed his own bag, and told his partner that he'd meet him at the air force base—before leaving D.C there was one other person he had to see.

* * *

When he had been looking for a house for them, Tony had been drawn to this neighborhood in Arlington of historic, stately homes, the large yards with old, majestic trees. It had been the perfect place to raise a family. Tony sat in his car for the longest time, staring at their brick colonial and thinking about how much his family had changed in the last year.

His vision for his family had been much different when he first saw the house; Tony didn't even know about Tali, Jack had been a baby. His vision had quickly changed after meeting his daughter. Leah's vision of their life had changed too when Tali had come into their lives. She had sacrificed a lot to welcome his little girl and love her like her own.

Now, Tony was about to go inside and drop the biggest bombshell on her since Tali. Sighing, he got out of his car and walked, slowly to the back door.

"I wasn't expecting to see you for the rest of the weekend," Leah quipped when Tony stepped into the kitchen.

"There's been a development that you need to know about," Tony said, gently.

"Oh no," she sighed, angrily, "do I have to be put under house arrest again?"

Tony chuckled and shook his head. "No. You're not in any danger."

Leah frowned and wrapped her arms tightly around her waist. "Is Gibbs going to be okay?"

He nodded. "Yes. The bullets weren't meant for him and the injuries from the accident are all treatable. He's in critical condition but he's stable. Ducky's monitoring his condition."

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Good but I'm sensing there's something else."

"The marine that was killed, he was found with one of Ziva's NCIS cards," Tony said, softly.

"He might have gotten that at anytime, Tony."

"I don't believe in coincidences, Leah. He had that card for a reason."

"How many of those cards do you hand out a year?" She asked, honestly.

"Well, I don't have an exact number…" he countered.

"Did you know him?" Leah asked.

Tony shook his head and shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. He searched her blue eyes, the ones that he had fallen in love with what felt like ages ago, and braced himself for the firestorm that was to come. "We think… we think there might be a chance Ziva's still alive; there's a possibility that she gave something to Ryan to hand over to Gibbs and Ryan was killed over it. "

Leah rocked back on her heels, her eyes widening as she tried to digest the information that she had just been given. "Alive? Where… where has she been all this time? It's been…it's been over a year! And Tali… how could she just leave Tali for that long?"

He'd been going over those questions for hours now and he still wasn't sure he had the answer. "I don't think she left Tali… I think Tali was taken and brought to me."

She let that soak for a moment. "Why?"

"I don't know. At least I don't know for certain. I have my theories."

"If she's alive… Tony… what does that mean for us?"

Tony reached out and pulled her close. He kissed her hair and rubbed her back. "I won't let her just take Tali away; she's my daughter too, she's apart of our family; Jack loves his big sister."

Leah closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She was the daughter of a lawyer, she knew the immense legal battle that could be looming in their future. "The adoption would be nullified. I wouldn't… I wouldn't be her mother anymore."

He hugged her, tightly. "No one can take away how much Tali loves you. You'll always be her _mama._ "

She pulled away and gathered herself. "I'm being unreasonable. Ziva isn't… she isn't just going to take Tali and disappear again. She can't… that would be too cruel on Tali… on you."

"Leah, I need to go to overseas and investigate this.."

"I understand. Do you want me to keep an eye on Gibbs?"

"Got plenty of people for that. You just take care of yourself and our kiddos."

She smiled at him, sadly. "Of course. You'll take care of yourself overseasl?"

He kissed her forehead. "I'm not going to go alone. I'm bringing Tim."

Leah lunged at him, grasping him in her arms and holding on tightly. "I love you, Anthony."

Tony returned her hug with just as much force. "I love you, too, bella."

* * *

Nick Torres pulled the Charger up to a dilapidated house and shut it down. "This is where you traced the van too?" He questioned Ellie.

Ellie nodded. "Yup. Although, it looks like no one has lived here in years. House looks like it should be torn down."

"Maybe that's why the guy fled the scene after hitting Gibbs' car," Nick replied. "He's down and out of his luck for money and can't afford to pay for the accident."

"Well, now he's going to sit in jail for fleeing the scene," Ellie said, opening her door. "Tony might even try to get him charged with more."

Nick chuckled. "DiNozzo's pretty pissed off, huh?"

Ellie looked at him, incredulously. "Yes. Gibbs was his mentor."

He got out of the car and slammed the door shut. "Sure that it doesn't have to do with the fact the mother of his love child might still be alive."

She scowled at him. "Tali isn't a love child."

"What would you call her then? It wasn't like her mother was going to let Tony know about her."

"His daughter. That's what I would call her—and no, this has nothing to do with Ziva."

"Lieutenant Ryan was killed delivering something from her to Gibbs."

"Fine, yes, this has something to do with Ziva."

Nick scratched behind his ear. "Don't know how I would feel if I had been lied to like that. Actually, I think I would be as pissed as Tony."

Ellie carefully made her way onto the porch and knocked on the front door. "I guess you're fortunate enough that you don't have to deal with that mess."

He grinned while the waited for someone to answer the door. "I'd say I'm blessed."

She rolled her eyes and peered between the planks of the boarded up window. Immediately, she pulled her gun. "Torres. Look."

"Damn," Nick said when he laid his eyes on what she had spied—their driver dead in the middle of his living room. "This guy is having a rough weekend."

"I'll give Jimmy a call," Ellie said. "Looks like we have another murder on our hands."

"Whoever did all this really doesn't want anyone to find out who they are."

"Sounds like secret operative to me."

Ellie dialed Jimmy's number. "We don't know that yet."

Nick gestured towards the body through the window. "Looks like someone is going through a lot of trouble to keep people silent."

She sighed, heavily while she waited for Jimmy to pick up—because she knew he was right. Someone was going through a lot of trouble to keep people quiet. They certainly didn't want NCIS or anyone else figuring this case out.


	6. Chapter 6

**Warnings:** Same as usual!

 **A/N:** Sorry for the wait. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

Tony leaned back against the crash netting on their transport plane and stared up at the cabin's ceiling. This incredibly long flight had bestowed upon him a lot of think time. He had no idea what was going on back home with the case—he wouldn't know until they landed and checked in with NCIS.

However, the case was the least of worries at the moment. The potential legal battle looming in his future was at the top of his list. Tony had taken John's advice and contacted a lawyer, but Steve Adler had told him the same things—Leah's adoption of Tali would be null and void, and Ziva would probably be granted full parental rights.

It wasn't like Ziva had much of a choice, apparently, to leave Tali, but it still made Tony incredibly angry that his family could be torn to shreds. If she could get in touch with Lieutenant Ryan, than she could have gotten in touch with him. _Maybe she did,_ he thought, suddenly, recalling that her necklace had shown up at Christmas. "Son of a bitch," he murmured.

"What's wrong?" Tim called to him, having heard him mumble but not being able to make out the words.

"Nothing," Tony called back. He noticed that Tim gave him a skeptical look but didn't push him.

They fell back into relative silence. Tony closed his eyes and thought about the necklace again. Schmeil had told him that he got it from Orli, who gave it to him after the fire investigation was closed. Tony had taken that at face value but now he was wondering if it had been Ziva that sent the necklace—otherwise, why would Schmeil have sent it to Gibbs and not to Tony?

Once again, Tony found himself questioning everything that Mossad had told them a year ago. There was a very real chance that Ziva had been trying to reach out to the team, discreetly, and none of them had been listening because they all fell for Mossad's lies.

* * *

Leah took advantage of her parents still having the kids the next day and went to the McGees' to help Delilah put together the cribs for the twins.

Delilah was more stressed out than Leah was—even with all the possible impending legal battles the DiNozzos could be going through. Leah understood; she remembered what it was like weeks before Jack had been born—and Tony had been away during that time too.

In the back bedroom that had been dedicated to the twins in the McGees' four bedroom ranch, parts for two separate cribs laid out. Delilah was in the door, holding the directions on her lap while Leah moved around and put everything together. "Tim was supposed to help me do this."

"It's okay," Leah said with a smile. "My parents have the kids until five and I had nothing else to do today."

"Guess I wasn't the only one that had weekend plans messed up," Delilah pointed out.

"No, but it's fine. Tony couldn't hand this case off to just anybody."

"Listen, I can call in some favors tomorrow at D.O.D. They might know more about Ziva's location."

Leah visibly stiffened at the mention of Ziva's name. She furiously screwed a leg of the crib into place. "Finding her doesn't necessarily help me, Delilah."

Delilah remained silent for a moment. "I know you're worried about all that legal stuff but any sane judge isn't going to just hand Tali off to a mother that abandoned her for over year."

"They would if Tali was taken from her mother and her mother had no knowledge of where she is."

"I'm sure Tony and Ziva can work something out so Tali's life doesn't have to be too disrupted."

Leah shook her head to push all those thoughts from her mind. She couldn't think about that right now. She didn't want to think about that right now. "What's next?" she asked, changing the subject.

Delilah took the hint that she didn't want to talk about it anymore and glanced at the directions in her lap. "The headboards… are you sure you can lift those? They look heavy."

"On excavations I have to lift heavy stone sometimes. I think I'll be okay."

"Headboards are quite different than ancient stone work."

It took Leah a little while longer than it would have taken Tim or Tony, but she got the job done. Afterwards, the two women sat down at the kitchen table for a lunch of deli meat sandwiches and sweet tea.

Delilah's parents had paid for a complete kitchen overhaul in the house so she could reach everything and still cook. Since then she had been able to host parties like the ones she used to hold before her injuries and she no longer felt guilty for having to move all social activities someone else's home.

Leah had just offered to clean up their plates when her phone rang. Glancing at it, she hoped it was Tony, but highly doubted it; she had not heard from him since he had left the day before. Instead, she found that it was her mother. "I have to go. Tali isn't feeling well and is asking for me."

"All right," Delilah said with a smile. "Thanks for helping me with the cribs."

"It wasn't a problem," Leah replied, grabbing her purse. "If you need help with anything else, just let me know."

"Sounds like you're going to have your hands full at home with a sick kid."

"My dad probably just gave her too many butterscotch candies."

Delilah chuckled, but before she left, she said, "Leah, no judge can take away how Tali feels about you—she thinks of you as her mother now—no one can take away the last year of her life or the home you gave her."

Leah clutched her purse and blinked back several tears. "But a judge _can_ take Tali away, Delilah—and that's what scares me."

* * *

Tali was curled up on the sofa when Leah arrived. Jack was sitting at his sister's feet, rubbing her knees and murmuring that it was going to be okay.

Leah was suddenly hit with the ramifications of Ziva being alive for her son. Jack loved his big sister. He comforted her when she was sad, played with her, laughed with her. What was going to happen to him if Tali was given back to Ziva?

Jack glanced up then and saw his mother. Immediately he smiled. "Hi Mama! I help Tali feel better!"

"That's very nice of you," Leah said, leaning down and giving her son a quick kiss on the top of his head. "Why doesn't Tali feel well?"

"My tummy hurts," Tali whimpered.

Leah picked Jack up and sat down in his place, putting her son on her lap. "Did you eat too many of Grandpa's butterscotch candies again?"

Tali strategically pushed some wrappers underneath her and shook her head.

She sighed and asked the kids where their grandfather was. Jack informed her that he had gone upstairs to his room, meaning he had locked himself in the office knowing that he was going to get a scolding from his daughter. "Where's Nana?"

"In the kitchen," Jack said, pointing towards the back of the house.

"I'll be right back; stay here," Leah instructed them, getting up and going to find her mother.

Katherine was giving the baby a bath in the kitchen sink. "Hi honey, Grace got a little worked up and spit up all over herself. I figured she'd feel better after a nice, warm bath."

Leah looked at the baby, who grinned at her mother and gurgled. "Is Daddy hiding from me because he gave Tali too many candies again?"

Her mother laughed. "Yes. He can't resist her you know."

"It's not very helpful when he makes my children sick while having them for the weekend," Leah said, softly. "Especially when Tony is away and I'm going to have to take care of all three of them alone."

"Anthony is away?" Katherine questioned. "Is that why he stopped by here yesterday?"

Leah didn't know that Tony had come by to see her parents and the kids. Why didn't he mention that to her? "He's in Bahrain right now, following up on a lead. Why did he come over here?"

Katherine finished bathing the baby and lifted her out of the sink, wrapping her in a big, fluffy towel. "He had some questions to ask Tali about where she lived with her mother."

She suddenly understood why Tony had been here—he was fact checking the story he had been told. Leah knew that Tali wasn't necessarily the most reliable source, but she was bright. "I'm curious, what did she say?"

"Oh, I wouldn't take what she said seriously, honey."

"Mom, what did she say?"

"Fine, she told Tony that she didn't live at a farmhouse. She lived in the city."

"She was found at the farmhouse after the fire—she had to have lived there."

Katherine gave the baby in her arms a kiss. "That's why I said you shouldn't take what she said seriously. I'm going to go get the baby dressed. I'll be right back."

Leah watched her head upstairs before she went to join Tali and Jack in the living room. Both kids had fallen asleep, curled up against each other. Only a year apart in age, Leah knew that the two little ones would be devastated to be away from one another and she felt completely helpless in stopping it from happening.

* * *

In a small, run down part of the capital city of Bahrain, Tony and Tim had tracked their former partner. It was still hard to believe that she had decided to play dead and not seek their help—but here they were.

Tony wasn't sure what the first thing he was going to say her was going to be. Some expletives came to mind—those wouldn't help their situation of having a child together. Perhaps he would let McGee do all the talking like Gibbs had done to him when he'd been the senior field agent. McGee was better with words than Tony was anyways since he was the big-time writer.

He disliked Bahrain about as much as he disliked Israel and Somalia. Dust everywhere, hot, he had not stopped sweating since stepping off the plane. Tony pushed his sunglasses back and knocked on the door of a tiny hovel. Around him he could hear children laughing and playing. They had passed two boys on the street kicking a soccer ball around.

"I can see why Ziva chose to live here," Tim mumbled while they waited. "No one would think to look for her here."

"Well," Tony sighed, "she was trained on how to disappear."

"Maybe a little too well."

"What's wrong, Timmy, don't like the heat?"

Tim glanced, sideways, at his team leader. "The heat, the threat of being blown up, shot at… take your pick. Whenever Ziva is involved it's always something dangerous and I have two babies who are going to be born any day now. I'd like to go back to D.C to them."

Tony gave him a sarcastic smile. "Are you telling me that you'd rather be home and not here with me? Aw, and I thought we had come so far, Tim."

"I can think of better places we can hang out—like a Florida golf course," Tim snapped.

"Well, maybe that can be next weekend," Tony said as he knocked on the door again.

"You don't think we've traveled together enough recently?"

"True, we did take that nice little trip to the Sudan."

It was the door creaking open slowly that ended their conversation; followed by a sultry voice stating, "I wondered when you would get here Agent DiNozzo; but you are too late. Ziva is gone."


	7. Chapter 7

**Warnings:** Same as usual. Some spoilers for "Family First"

 **A/N:** I apologize for the delay, I was at Disney last week and just didn't have time to post while I was away.

 _ **Ladyaloysius**_ \- _Thanks for reading!_

* * *

"I see that you made it out of Columbia," Tony drawled, watching as a glass of water was placed in front of him. "Ziva had nothing to worry about after all."

"In that instance, no," Monique Lisson said, with a smile. "I barely spoke to her until after her father died. I think she was angry at me for staying behind in Columbia. That was when she called me—she wanted my help locating Bodnar."

Tony's jaw clenched. Ziva never would have admitted it but her father's murder changed her. She became even more reckless and calculating in her hunt for the killer. "Did you know about Tali?"

Monique handed a glass of water to Tim and sighed. "I knew that she existed but I did not know she was your daughter. Ziva never mentioned that you came to Israel to try and convince her to return to Washington. She made it sound like she was not speaking to any of you anymore."

"She wasn't speaking to us," Tim said. "After Tony saw her at the farmhouse that was the last the team heard from her."

"I am not surprised," Monique said. "When Ziva wanted to disappear she disappeared."

"It would have been nice to have a phone call once and a while," Tim snapped.

"And especially after my daughter was born," Tony added.

Monique sat down at the table with the two men. She folded her hands on top of the rustic wood. "If I had known sooner that Tali was your daughter, Agent DiNozzo, I would have urged Ziva to contact you. By the time she told me, Director Elbanz had already taken the child to the United States."

Tony felt his heart skip a beat. "So, Ziva was alive after the explosion?"

"Yes, she was."

"How did Orli get Tali?"

"Do you for one moment believe that Trent Kort was the only one looking for Eli's files?"

Of course there had been some speculation that Kort wasn't the only one on the hunt for those files; however, everything had happened so fast that no one on the team had a moment to think. Tony took a sip of the coppery tasting water. "Did Orli take Tali?"

Monique's dark eyes narrowed in on him. "No. Ever since Eli was killed there has been a small fraction of loyal officers to him that have been trying to cover up some of his more….shady doings."

Tony felt his throat go dry. "Did someone abduct Tali?"

"Yes. They wanted the file. They used her as leverage."

"Ziva got the file from the farmhouse before it was bombed."

"She did."

"How come the exchange was never made?" Tim asked.

"Kort had the farmhouse blown up and it was all over international news," Monique said. "Isn't that how you found out?"

Tony sighed and gave her a small nod. "It was Orli that called Director Vance and told her that Ziva was dead."

Monique's gaze softened. "She believed that Ziva was dead. The loyal officers returned Tali to her believing Ziva to be dead as well and that the file was destroyed. By the time she got back to Tel Aviv, Tali was gone."

"Why didn't she come to Washington?" Tim asked the obvious question. "If she wasn't in danger, and Tali was safe, why hide?"

"She had the file," Monique said. "And everyone wanted that file."

"Did she send me that necklace?"

"Yes."

Tim could see Tony's shoulders going stiff. "Why didn't she reach out to us?"

Monique smiled, sadly. "She did not want to put your wife and your other children in danger. It was better off for everyone that you believed her to be dead."

Tony shook with rage. "Better off?" he snapped. "For who? Because now I have that file, NCIS has that file! And that apparently puts all of us in danger—maybe including Leah and my kids!"

"So, Lieutenant Ryan managed to get the file to you," Monique said. "When I gave it to him three weeks ago he promised me he would."

"Yeah. We got the file. Guess what? He's dead."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Why did Ziva want NCIS to have the file?" Tim questioned, ignoring the fire in Tony's eyes.

Monique sighed. "She just wanted it out of the Middle East. Harder for those rogue Mossad agents to get their hands on it if it's in the United States."

Tony ran his hands through his damp hair. "Where's Ziva now? You said that she was gone. Where did she go? Back to Israel? Did she go to Washington?" He pulled a notepad out of his pocket and slid it across the table to her. "Write down everything that you know Monique. Because I intend to find her and get some damn answers."

She eyed him carefully for a moment. "You might not like what you find out, Agent DiNozzo."

He glared. "I don't care. I'm trying to protect my family, to keep it from being torn to shreds."

"Do you think Ziva wanted to leave Tali behind?"

"She sure as hell didn't want to let me know about her."

"It has not been easy for Ziva to stay away from Tali," Monique said.

"Yeah," Tony sighed, angrily, "it wasn't exactly easy for my family either."

* * *

Nick pulled up the footage from their dead guy's security camera. It had caught grainy images of his murder, but it had not caught a clear photograph of the murderer. This led Nick to believe that they were dealing with someone that knew what they were doing—a professional.

Ellie suddenly whistled at him to catch his attention. He glanced up to see her gesturing for him to join her in MTAC. "Tony wants to update us," she said. "He's on standby."

He hit pause on the video and sprinted up the steps to join her. "Did they find Officer David yet?"

She shook her head. "Not yet. Tony wants me to look in to something."

"Another lead?"

"It sounds like it."

Nick was intrigued. His work up until this point was primarily undercover work, he was revered as one of the best agents for going undercover, but lately had found himself wanting to tag along on more of the everyday, cut and dry cases—he wanted to investigate.

Ellie didn't mind him tagging along either. He was scrappy, sometimes annoying, but otherwise a decent guy. Now that Gibbs had retired, the team was short staffed, so Nick's help was always appreciated. It was clear that Tony was going to take a long time picking a replacement agent for Gibbs.

Tony had other things on his mind now; finding a new agent for their team was not at the top of his priority list. He looked tense, uncomfortable, and hot on the large screen in MTAC. "Did you two get any evidence from that crime scene?"

"Shell casings and DNA samples all went to Abby," Ellie reported. "Jimmy is working on the autopsy."

"Gibbs?"

"Ducky said they woke him up for a bit. He was cranky."

Tony smiled. "Guess if he's cranky, he's going to be fine."

Ellie frowned. "Tell that to Ducky right now."

"I would if I was going to see him, but Tim and I have a plane to catch."

"Where are you going now?"

"Tel Aviv. It's time to go chat with Mossad."

Ellie glanced over at Nick briefly, who looked a little worried about the prospect of that. "What did you want me to look into?"

Tony gave her a name. "See if you can find out where she's traveled in the last nine months."

She wrote the name down on a scrap piece of paper. "Does she have something to do with our case?"

He licked his dry, cracked lips. "Yes."

"If we find her here in the States should we bring her in for questioning?" Nick asked.

"No. Just let me know where she is," Tony replied before cutting the feed.

Ellie looked at Nick in the now dim room. "That was odd."

Nick quirked his eyebrows. "So, you thought so too?"

"Yeah," Ellie said. "He's usually not so cryptic—that was Gibbs. I never knew which way was up with him, but that hasn't been the case with Tony."

"Well," Nick sighed, looking at the name on the paper. "Obviously, he thinks that this Sophie Rainier has something to do with our case so we better start looking for her."

* * *

Tali woke up in the middle of the night. This wasn't unusual; especially since Tony was away. She struggled to sleep through the night when either of her parents were gone.

Leah was in bed reading some term papers when she heard the footsteps on the third-floor stairs and then the door to the master bedroom opened very slowly. Two little hazel eye peered at her from behind the solid oak door. "Hi baby," she greeted with a smile. "Are you having trouble sleeping?"

"Mama, is Abba sending me back to Israel?" Tali questioned, startling Leah.

"Why do you ask?" Leah countered.

"He asked where I lived with Ima."

She pat the bed next to her and let Tali climb up. Leah hugged the little girl, kissing the top of her head. "Abba is not sending you back to Israel. He was just curious what your life was like before you came to live with us in America. So don't worry, you are not going anywhere."

Tali snuggled close, with a pensive look on her face. It was almost like she knew that Leah was trying to cover for Tony. "But why, Mama? Why did he ask me all those questions?"

Leah wasn't sure how to answer that. She had no idea why Tony was asking their daughter those questions; she had barely spoken to him before he left for the Middle East. She could surmise that he had asked Tali those questions in order to determine if Ziva was alive or not; that the story they had had been told when Tali came to them was true. Thankfully the baby began to whimper over the monitor and Leah was saved from having to answer Tali's difficult questions for now. "Want to help me with Grace?"

"Okay," the little girl said, sliding out of the bed. She took Leah's hand and climbed down the stairs with her stepmother. "Mama, will Abba be home soon?"

"He won't be gone long, baby," Leah assured her as they headed towards Grace's room. "He just needed to go ask some people some questions and then he'll be home."

Tali seemed to accept that answer but said, "I don't like it when Abba goes away."

Leah sighed and opened the door to Grace's bedroom. As she made her way to the crib and picked the crying baby up to hush her, she told the girls that she really didn't like it when Tony was away too.


	8. Chapter 8

**Warnings:** Same as usual.

 **A/N:** Sorry that it took a while to update, I have been working on my other projects. I hope you enjoy this update, we're about halfway through this one! As always thank you for your feedback and continued support!

* * *

After the sun went down, Tim found Tony sitting on the tiny back patio of Monique's house, contemplating. They had been hit with an overwhelming amount of information that afternoon and he had half expected Tony to go off the deep end again like he had last year, however Tony seemed quite calm for someone that was on the verge of a personal crisis. Maybe his partner was saving that for when they eventually caught up with Ziva.

Tim sat down and lightly tapped his fingers against the tiny glass table. "Do you want to talk?"

Tony grunted and threw back the rest of his drink. "Not much to talk about."

"Sure there is," Tim replied, cautiously. "In fact there's lots to talk about."

"Fine," Tony said with a glare in Tim's direction. "I loved her, Tim."

"I know."

"I loved her and look what she did to me."

Tim looked away, briefly. He had been rattled by Ziva's decision to not inform Tony about Tali; there had been a lot of long, late night discussions about it with Delilah, but he had never talked to Tony about it. Glancing back at his friend, he sighed. "Maybe she didn't know you loved her."

Tony guffawed. "Please. She knew. I practically said it to her every damn day I was in Israel, as I begged for her to come back to Washington with me and start a new life. When I left she wished me well. She didn't call it good-bye, but I knew it. I felt it and still I carried a torch for her well into my relationship with Leah."

"What if she had told you she was pregnant?" Tim asked.

"I would have left NCIS and gone to Israel," Tony said.

"And never dated Leah."

"She would have been forgotten."

"Do you think you would have been just as happy in Israel as you are now in D.C?"

Tony pictured Jack and Grace, how they never would have come to be if a simple phone call had been made. "I called Ziva in January that year, just before I asked Leah out. Why didn't she pick up that phone and tell me? Why wasn't I important enough to her to know I was going to be a father?"

Tim thought about those questions for a moment and the truth was he didn't have an answer. "Life turned out alright for you, actually better than alright—it turned out pretty great. I'm not saying what Ziva did was right, in fact, I think what she did was awful. However, _you_ got the better end of the deal, don't you think?"

"Oh, I don't know—I'm here in the middle east chasing her again aren't I? I should be at home with my wife and kids," Tony snapped, "actually, I'd rather be home with Leah and the kids."

"As soon as we get to the bottom of all this, we'll be home," Tim said, "and then we can go home."

"And just go back to normal?"

"Well… guess that depends on what you consider normal, Tony."

"Normal is what my life was like before Lieutenant Ryan came crashing into it."

Tim could see the uncertainty in Tony's green eyes. "Would you rather have had Ziva just show up at your door?"

Tony chuckled, angrily. "Yes, because then I could slam it in her face."

"That's not very nice."

"Do I look like I want to be _nice_ right about now?"

Fortunately for Tim, Tony's satellite phone rang saving the younger agent from having to answer that question. He was glad that he had dodged that bullet. When the lead agent got off the phone, Tim could tell that something was up.

Tony put his phone away and stood, wiping the sweat from his brow. "That was Bishop. They tracked Ziva to Israel. She moved our flight up to tonight. Come on, we have a plane to catch."

* * *

Leah was busy getting the kids into the car to head off to daycare when a car pulled up in front of the DiNozzos' house and a woman got out, dressed in a black pantsuit. Immediately, Leah was suspicious as the woman approached her.

"Excuse me," the woman said, smiling. "I was wondering if Special Agent DiNozzo was home?"

"No," Leah replied, finishing buckling Jack into his car seat. "He's out of town. Can I help you with something?"

The woman glanced over her shoulder at the house and then back at Leah. "I work with him, he had a flash drive that contained information on it pertaining to one of my cases. I was wondering if perhaps he left it here."

Leah closed the door to her car and slipped her hand in her pocket, feeling around for her cell phone. "I'm sorry, I didn't see a flash drive. My husband tends to keep work out of our house. Are you sure he didn't leave it back at NCIS?"

"Unfortunately, it looks like he might have taken it with him," the woman replied with a fake smile. She turned to go. "Sorry to bother you."

"It's not a problem," Leah told her, watching as she walked away. Discretely, Leah slipped her cell phone out of her pocket and snapped a photograph. She waited until the woman had driven away to send the photograph to Ellie; she had a sneaky suspicion that the woman who had just approached her _did not_ work with Tony.

* * *

"Jethro, you really should be resting."

Gibbs scoffed and tried to shift positions in his hospital bed but he was attached to so many damn machines he didn't have many positions to choose from. "I need to get out of this bed, Duck. I might be able to help the case. I was with Lieutenant Ryan when he died, I might have helpful information for the team."

Ducky sighed heavily. "Jethro, you were in a car accident and sustained multiple injuries. Anthony has everything under control. You know he's done a pretty admirable job since you retired."

"I know," Gibbs sighed, finally giving up in getting comfortable. "But this… Ziva… is she alive?"

"All evidence suggests that she is," Ducky replied. "Eleanor tracked her last known whereabouts to Israel which was about a month ago; after that we have not been able to find her. She's gone even further off the grid apparently."

Gibbs closed his eyes. He couldn't understand how Ziva could have left her daughter behind, handed her over to Tony without even a phone call. DIdn't she want to know how Tali was doing? That her daughter was safe and in good hands? In the last year Tali had grown attached to her father, stepmother and siblings. It would be cruel to take her away from them. "Tell me that Tony didn't go off to Israel alone."

Ducky chuckled, softly. "He learned his lesson; Timothy went with him."

He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. Gibbs opened his eyes and looked at Ducky. "I should have told him."

"Told who what?"

"Tony. About the conversation I had with Orli shortly after Tony took his leave of absence."

Ducky raised his eyebrows in concern. "Did she know that Ziva was alive?"

Gibbs shook his head. "She had her suspicions. Apparently new evidence in the house fire was brought to her attention and she didn't think that Tali was inside at the time. She thought that the house was empty. When she dug around a little more she found out that the woman who brought Tali to her was a former Mossad agent—not Tali's nanny."

The medical examiner clasped his hands in his lap. "Was Director Elbaz investigating further? Did she even have enough evidence to suggest that perhaps she had been lied too?"

"No. She mentioned having some problems with officers that were still loyal to Eli David wanting to keep his files a secret," Gibbs said, "but once word got out that the files had been destroyed they loyal officers all but disappeared; resigned from Mossad."

"Anthony said that the files were found on the flash drive that the lieutenant gave you," Ducky said. "Jethro, it's possible that the lieutenant was killed over that flash drive."

Gibbs looked worried. "Who has the flash drive now?"

Ducky sighed. "It is at NCIS; Director Vance has it. Anthony gave it to him before leaving for Bahrain."

"I hope it put it under lock and key."

"I'm sure he did, Jethro."

"Anyone checked in on Leah?"

"Breena went over the other evening. She's handling it well."

Gibbs let out a short breath. "Her family is on the verge of possibly being torn apart. Are you sure she's handling it _that_ well."

Ducky shrugged. "She's handling as well as one would expect, I guess. I don't know; I haven't seen her."

The former marine gave his old friend a smile. "If you get me out of this hospital today, I'll go see her and check on her."

The Scotsman glared. "Jethro. You are staying right here until your doctors tell you otherwise."

"Come on, Duck," Gibbs growled. "I'm fine!"

"You are far from _fine,_ " Ducky argued just as a knock came on the door.

Ellie popped in, smiling. "Sorry to bother you, Gibbs. I'm glad to see you awake!"

Gibbs was confused why she was here. She had a case she should be working. "Bishop. Do you need something?"

She glanced at Ducky nervously before handing the former NCIS agent a photograph that Leah had sent to her just an hour ago. "I was wondering if you recognized this woman. She showed up at Tony and Leah's today asking for the flash drive. I have been running her face through AFIS but so far no hits."

He reached for his glasses on the night stand and put them on. Gibbs studied the photograph for a moment before setting it in his lap. "Yeah. I recognize her. Get Vance on the phone, he's going to want to hear this."


	9. Chapter 9

**Warnings:** Same as usual.

 **A/N:** I didn't want to keep you waiting too long for another update. I am still working on my other stories (including picking up again on "Held"). Hope you enjoy this chapter! As always, your feedback is welcome! Thanks again for reading!

 **Guest:** _You'll find out Ziva's fate at the end of this chapter._

* * *

Ellie returned from seeing Gibbs and quickly brought something up on the plasma screen to show her temporary partner. "I spoke to Gibbs. Just like I suspected, he knew her."

Nick looked at the screen, at the woman gazing back at him with a stern glance. "Who is she?"

"Mossad Officer Liat Tuvia," Ellie replied. "Gibbs worked with her several years ago when Eli David came to D.C."

"Why was she asking around for that flash drive?" Nick asked. "What the hell is on it, Ellie?"

"It contained Eli's files," Ellie answered, softly.

"The same ones that Officer David was supposedly killed over last year?"

"The very same ones."

Nick rubbed his chin, thoughtfully. "Someone is going through a lot of trouble to make sure those files are not found. That is a very long list of suspects; Director David had a lot of enemies."

Ellie pursed her lips. "Director Vance was going to get in touch with Mossad, ask why Officer Tuvia was here in the States and why she approached Leah. If Mossad knows that those files survived, then they're going to want them back."

He nodded. "Is there anything specific on those files that Mossad doesn't want getting out?"

She shook her head. "No. Tony took the files directly to Vance once we figured out what they were."

"Speaking of those files," Vance said above them, "can I see the two of you in my office?"

Ellie and Nick exchanged glances before following Vance back to his office. The NCIS Director closed the door behind the two agents and reached for his remote, bringing photographs of a bombing up on his screen.

Vance looked solemn. "I did some digging of my own in those files once DiNozzo handed them off to me. I think I found out what Ziva and Mossad were trying to cover up—this is the Hamas suicide bombing that killed Tali David when she was sixteen years old. I was surprised to find this in here because Eli never spoke of Tali's death. He only spoke of how much he missed her."

Nick glanced sideways at Ellie. "If she was killed in a Hamas suicide bombing, why is Mossad eager to cover it up?"

"Unless it was already a cover up," Eliie suggested.

"It appears that way," Vance said, quietly. "It was a Mossad target, but Eli was misinformed. They hit the wrong target, killing Israelis and Palestinians—his daughter being among the dead."

"So, Mossad fed the media the story that it was a Hamas suicide bombing," Nick guessed.

"Exactly," Vance agreed.

"Politically it could be disaster for Mossad if this got out after all these years," Ellie said. "No wonder Ziva and Mossad wanted to keep the file out of the hands of the wrong people."

Vance cut the power to his screen and set the remote down. "Has DiNozzo had any luck tracking her down?"

Ellie sighed and shook her head. "Not yet; I tracked her to Israel about four weeks ago; after that the trail goes cold. She left the file with her friend, Monique, who then gave it to Lieutenant Ryan."

"We think that someone paid someone else to kill Ryan in D.C," Nick continued, "then that killer hired the driver of the van to help him, killing him afterwards so he could not be identified."

"Keep me posted," Vance ordered them. "SecNav is breathing down my neck on this one; especially now that we have Eli's files. Even from beyond the grave that man is causing political nightmares."

* * *

Tony and Tim had tracked Ziva's last known whereabouts in Israel to a small, narrow street in the Jewish quarter of Jerusalem. After passing armed guards and children playing soccor in the streets, he didn't want Tali to come back here. _I'll fight Ziva tooth and nail over that if I have too,_ he thought as they approached a small hovel.

He knocked on the door, took a deep breath, and waited. Tim had told him not to go crazy on Ziva; that the separation from Tali had to be difficult on her. Tony was just hoping he could keep his temper in check long enough to get information out of her before she completely shut down and threw them out. But it wasn't Ziva that answered the door, it was a woman much younger. Tony found his credentials and held them up. "I'm Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, this is my partner Tim McGee. We're looking for a woman."

"Ziva," the young woman answered with a smile. "She isn't here. She hasn't been here for a long time."

"Do you know where she went?" Tim asked.

"No, she was always a secretive one," the young woman said.

Tony was frustrated. He didn't want to spend months looking for Ziva this time; Tim had to get home before the twins arrived and Tony couldn't ask Leah to be a single mother for that long. "Do you have any _thoughts_ on where she might have gone?"

She could tell that the federal agent was getting frustrated and she invited them inside. "I was friends with Ziva's sister, Tali. After Tali died, Ziva kept in touch as much as possible, but I knew she had entered Mossad to avenge her sister's death. She always had a vengeful streak in her, even when we were children. Would you like some tea?"

Cautiously the two federal agents entered the small home and the young woman closed the door. She went to the tiny kitchen to prepare some tea while Tony and Tim sat down. While they waited, Tony's phone rang.

Tim glanced at his partner anxiously while Tony answered, "Please, tell me you have something for me, Bishop. Jerusalem has turned out to be a dead end."

" _Liat Tuvia is in town,"_ Gibbs voice said on the other end. " _She went by your house looking for that flash drive. I know you found Eli's files, but what's in it, DiNozzo?"_

"Gibbs, you know I can't tell you that," Tony sighed, rubbing his temple. "It's classified."

" _She approached Leah,"_ Gibbs snapped. " _Does that still make_ _it classified?"_

Tony peered at Tim before answering. He knew that Gibbs was aware of what was on the flash drive, the former team leader just wasn't aware of the specifics. "Eli David _might_ have been responsible for the bombing that killed Tali David. Trent Kort knew about it; he helped Eli cover it up. His name was mentioned in the file. There were other things, but that was the most damning."

Tim sputtered and blinked rapidly. When had Tony discovered that? And why hadn't the team leader told him about it? "Oh my God, Tony!" he snapped, watching as Tony's green eyes glared at him and silently told him to shut up.

" _Have you spoken with Elbaz yet?"_

"No. She's our next stop."

" _Keep me updated,"_ Gibbs said before hanging up.

"Gibbs, I can't! You're not an agent anymore!" Tony shouted, but it was too late, the former marine had hung up on him. "Bastard hung up on me!"

"Why didn't you tell me?" Tim asked.

"I'm sorry, Tim, I wasn't sure how it all fit in," Tony answered, honestly. "If it fit in at all."

"I can't believe you kept this from me!"

"Hey, I said I was sorry."

"Gentlemen," a voice said, startling them. "There's no need to argue over this."

Tony felt the bile rising in his throat when he saw who was standing in the room with them. "How did you know I was here?"

Orli Elbaz smiled. "I have been keeping my eyes on you for some time, Agent DiNozzo. I knew that you would come here, to the last place that Ziva David was seen alive."

Angry, Tony got to his feet quickly, which caused a stir in the two Mossad officers behind their Director. "You set me up," he snapped.

Elbaz smiled at him, tightly, and asked him to sit back down. When he refused she spoke, "I understand that this has to be very hard on you, Agent DiNozzo, and I apologize for my officer approaching your wife; she was not to be involved in this, but Liat got desperate. When word got out that the file had survived the fire and that a marine had it in his possession our enemies wasted no time in trying to retrieve. Officer Tuvia went to your house in the hopes of getting the file to keep your family safe."

"You can tell your enemies that NCIS has the file and they're turning it over to our State Department. Good luck getting it," Tony hissed. "And my wife would have turned that file over to protect our children."

"How did you find out the file was still intact?" Tim asked, trying to calm the storm that was brewing.

"Six months after I brought Tali to America, Ziva contacted me," Elbaz said. "She had the file but was being pursued by her father's enemies."

"What about the rogue Mossad officers?" Tony asked. "The ones that abducted my daughter and held her for ransom?"

"They were not rogue officers," Elbaz answered. "They never existed. I made that story up to calm your Agent Gibbs."

Tim stood now, shoulder to shoulder with Tony. "Gibbs _knew_?"

Elbaz nodded. "I called him when Mossad had finished the investigation of the fire. He had a lot of questions, of course, so I had to make up some story; when I spoke with Ziva for the first time after the fire we agreed that it was the story to go with, to keep our enemies off track."

Tony pulled his cell phone out and called up the photograph of the dead marine and shoved it in her face. "You didn't keep them far enough off track! A United States Marine is dead bringing that file to Gibbs!"

"And I am sorry," Elbaz said, softly.

"What else did you tell Gibbs? I need to know what else he's keeping from me," Tony spat, furiously.

"Nothing. I did not call again and ever tell him the truth. I promised I would wait until Ziva gave me permission."

"I want to see her; I want to question her. She's a witness in my murder investigation."

Elbaz sighed once more and looked at them sadly. "Unfortunately, Agent DiNozzo, that will not be possible. Ziva is dead."


	10. Chapter 10

**Warnings:** Slight spoilers for "Family First"

 **A/N:** Hello everyone! Here is the next chapter! Thank you for the continued support of this series. It has been a labor of love for me and I enjoy sharing it with you :)

* * *

Tony was instantly mollified, all of his anger dissipated thanks to the news. "Dead?" he repeated, just to make sure he heard her right.

Elbaz nodded, solemnly. "Yes. She died three weeks ago. Her plan was to give the flash drive to Ryan and then follow him to Washington a few weeks later once Gibbs had it. I believe, Agent McGee, she wanted your help destroying the flash drive and to erase all evidence that it had even existed."

Tim shifted on his feet uneasily. "She was willing to cover up the fact that her father was responsible for her sister's death?"

"She knew that if it were to leak it could be political disaster for Israel. More lives could have been lost over it," Elbaz said. "She was willing to keep the cover up going to protect her country and her people."

"Why didn't she call Gibbs before the file headed his way?" Tony asked. He clutched his fists at his sides. _Typical Ziva, believing she had to do everything herself and not ask for help._ "Why didn't she reach out to us?"

"I do not know," Elbaz said. "It was her idea, her plan. I let her execute it without asking questions."

Tony sat down at the table and ran his hands over his face. He had grieved for Ziva a year ago but the news of her death, this time confirmed, still stung. _At least now you have answers for Tali._ "Ziva was always trying to clean up Eli's messes," he mused.

Elbaz sat down with him and reached out to pat his hand. "If it makes you feel any better, Agent DiNozzo, Ziva was never angry at me for leaving Tali with you in Washington when I thought she had died in the fire. In fact, she was relieved that Tali ended up in a safe place."

"How did she die?" Tony asked.

"Car accident. A sniper took the tires out on her car," Elbaz answered.

"Wait. What did you say?" the lead agent asked, startled.

"She was driving back to her safe house in Tel Aviv when a sniper shot her tires. Her car crashed, killing her," Elbaz said.

Tony looked at Tim, who blinked in surprise. "Our van driver wasn't involved in the murder of Lieutenant Ryan at all; he was a witness that had to be taken care of."

Tim swallowed the lump in his throat. "We're looking for the same guy. I'll go call Director Vance."

"Agent McGee, this is our investigation," Elbaz stopped him. "The assassination of a former Mossad officer is considered a terrorist attack to us."

"I have a dead marine back home," Tony snapped. "Many Americans would consider that a terrorist attack as well."

"Perhaps then, we should work together."

"McGee. Go call Vance. Tell him we're working with Mossad."

Tim nodded his head, and pulled out his satellite phone, muttering, "On it boss," as he went.

* * *

"Hey Abs," Ellie greeted as she breezed into the lab. "Have you found anything new for us?"

"Yes, the bullets used to killed Lieutenant Ryan came from the same gun that killed Ziva," Abby answered, heavily. "I was really hoping for a different outcome, that she hadn't been killed. But Tony said he saw the autopsy report and photographs of the crime scene. That must have been so hard for him!"

Ellie snapped her fingers to try and get Abby back on track. "Can you tell me what kind of weapon killed them?"

Abby brought a photograph of a popular sniper rifle up on the plasma screen. "You're looking for someone that is a well-trained marksman, possibly has military background—or terrorist training, either way no ordinary person could just pick this up and shoot with such precision."

"What about the driver of the van?" Nick questioned. "It wasn't a sniper rifle that killed him."

"SIG," Abby said. "He was shot at closer range. I could pull a face from a reflection on a car; I'm running it through a program now to try and construct a composite sketch of our suspect. It might take a little while."

"You know, our killer would have to have followed the van driver from the scene of the crime," Nick said. "Maybe we can tap into some traffic cams and see if anyone followed him? Pull the plates."

"I like how you think, Torres," Abby said, her fingers flying over the computer keys. "We might be able to at least get a clear photo of our suspect, even if he used a fake name. It might not be a lot… but at least it's a start."

* * *

Tony had found his way out to the concrete courtyard where Ziva had slammed him into the ground and pointed her gun at his chest. He had never told anyone about that, choosing to protect his partner over ratting her out to Gibbs. Besides, she had been emotionally compromised, or so he had told himself at the time.

It felt like a much different world now.

He closed his eyes for a moment, listening to the birds, feeling the sun on his face. Learning about Ziva's true fate the second time around had not impacted him as much as the first—because he had already grieved for her. It had been a grieving process that nearly cost him his own life and family. Now, instead of wanting straight up revenge and death, he wanted justice; for Ziva and Lieutenant Ryan. Maybe some justice for Tali and her namesake as well.

"Tony."

"It's okay, Tim. You can join me."

"Are you okay?"

Tony opened his eyes and chuckled to himself. Was he okay? _Hell no,_ he thought, turning to face Tim. "No. I'm not okay, but I'm not about to dive off the deep end again if that's what you're afraid of."

Tim shifted on his feet. It was what he was afraid of. They had come so close to losing Tony to the madness last time… "I just don't want to see you go through all that again, Tony."

He shoved his hands into his pockets and looked at his shoes, scuffed from all the trekking across old cobblestone streets. "I can't do that to Leah again—I'd lose her this time. She's a strong woman but even a strong woman can only take so much. She didn't ask for any of this and yet it's been thrust upon her."

It was surprising Tim that his friend was, well, so calm. "She knew what she was signing up for when she started dating you and she certainly doesn't blame you for any of this."

"Of course she doesn't," Tony replied. "She's too good for me, McGee."

"Yeah," Tim said. "We've been telling you that for years."

Tony cocked a grin. "Somehow it managed to work out."

Tim glanced at him, seriously. "Well, yeah, because she figured out how to put up with you."

"And yet, she still loves me."

"One of life's greatest mysteries."

Tony saw a crack in Tim's façade and he frowned. "Tim. What's the matter?"

Tim swallowed the lump in his throat. "We killed Kort; Ziva wasn't even dead. We pulled the trigger and took a life without thinking about it."

He sighed. Tony had not been with the team when they had shot and killed Trent Kort; he had felt it best to be at home with his wife and kids. Kort had not even crossed his mind when Orli told them that Ziva was dead the day before. "Don't let that weigh on you, Tim. It will eventually drag you down. Kort knew what he was doing from the start. To be honest, I'm surprised he lived that long."

An angry look came over Tim's face. "It still doesn't make what _we_ did right. We were all so certain that Kort was responsible. If we had dug deeper we might have found the holes and found Ziva. Things never should have gotten that far out of hand."

"But they did. We can't change that," Tony replied.

"It sucks," Tim snapped.

"I know," the lead agent countered, softly.

Behind Tim, the door opened and Malachi Ben-Gideon stepped out, gesturing for Tony. "We have something," he said, before disappearing back inside.

Tony and Tim quickly followed him. They passed through Mossad Headquarters at a lightning fast pace and entered a secured room that rivaled the technology in MTAC. "What is it?" Tony asked, curious. "Did you identify the person responsible for this?"

Malachi nodded. "Someone just turned footage over to us from a home security system. They have been away in Europe on holiday, however, their cameras caught the sniper firing. We have managed to clean up the image and run his face through facial recognition software."

"And?" Tim prompted.

"He is not Hamas. He is American," Malachi responded.

"American?" Tony repeated. Why would an American kill Ziva and then Lieutenant Ryan over Eli's files? "Are you sure?"

Malachi sighed. "Yes. When we ran his face, it came up with his service file. Alec Lewis; he is a former Marine turned CIA. He has advanced training, including sniper training."

Tony was still confused as to why a former marine had murdered for Eli David's secrets. CIA? Perhaps they hadn't been so far off when accusing Trent Kort last year of murdering Ziva. "What's his connection to Ziva?"

Tim was working on the computer now, scrolling through the intel that Mossad had on the Marine. "No direct connection. They didn't work together. However, his wife was visiting Israel when she was killed in a bombing."

"Not the same one that killed Tali David?" Tony questioned, that was too much of a coincidence.

"One and the same," Tim replied.

"He wants that file to expose Eli David," Malachi said. "He wants the truth to come out for his wife."

"Is there anyone else that knew about the files, knew that Eli covered up the bombing that killed Tali?"

"No, not outside of the agency; a mole must have told Alec Lewis."

Inhaling a deep breath, Tony paced a little. "He's CIA; he could have gotten that information anywhere. Do you have a location as to where Lewis is now?"

Malachi shook his head. "No. He travels under several alias. The last one used shows him entering the United States. We have sent his description to Interpol."

Tony rocked back on his heels. "So, I guess we wait then, for him to resurface. He can't hide forever."

* * *

Ellie dashed into the bullpen. "I just got off the phone with Tony. Mossad managed to get a name for us. Former Marine Lieutenant Alec Lewis. Home security cameras picked him up firing the shots into the tires of Ziva David's car. His picture matches the one that Abby managed to pull."

Nick straightened his shoulders and felt hopeful for the first time in a few days that they were finally on to something. "Do they know where he is?"

"Interpol is working on it," Ellie replied. "His last known location is here, in D.C."

"He has to be the one that fired at Gibbs' car," Nick said, "killing Lieutenant Ryan."

"That's what Tony and Mossad believe."

"How did he know where to find Ryan? A mole?"

"Not a mole; he got the information for himself."

Nick quirked an eyebrow. "Huh? How do you know?"

Ellie smiled and grabbed the remote. She brought security footage up. "Remember that Lieutenant Ryan had been visited by a Mossad agent after his first visit from Ziva? Well, I showed Lewis' photograph to Ryan's friend—he identified him as the agent. So, I asked Mossad for their security footage from around the same time. Ryan works for the CIA, he has the training to complete an operation like this. He created credentials and background and walked right into Mossad."

He deadpanned, "Their security sucks."

She chuckled, softly. "Like all systems, it has its flaws. Anyways, Mossad reported a software breach around the time that Lewis was in the building but they never could find where the breach came from. What was accessed was the copy of Eli's file that Ziva had given Orli after the farmhouse fire. Lewis tried to download it, which triggered the firewalls. He wasn't successful but we assume that he read enough to know who to look for."

"If he had access to Mossad's database even for fifteen minutes he could have learned all of Ziva's alias' and traced her," Nick said. "That's how he traced her to Ryan."

"Exactly," Ellie said. "Vance has called Officer Tuvia to come over and verify what we have found, but we think we have our guy. Let's hope Interpol tracks him down for us."

Nick sighed, reaching for his keys. "I'll go grab up some coffee." _It's going to be a long night._


	11. Chapter 11

**Warnings:** Same as usual.

 **A/N:** Hope everyone is enjoying this. I wrote it trying to tie up some plot holes left by Family First. I know it's been a bit slow on the action, but I promise badass Tony and Tim are coming up in a later chapter (as well as a very angry Tony confronting Gibbs). Thanks again for all your support! Love getting your feedback!

* * *

Tali was not the only one that struggled to sleep when Tony was away—Leah did as well. So, when her cell phone alerted her to an incoming video phone call at five in the morning, she was already wide awake.

Leah rolled over onto her side and reached for her cell phone on the nearby nightstand. "Hey you," she greeted with a smile when Tony's face filled the screen. She could see the dark skies and twinkling city lights behind him. His skin was bronzed after the several days he had spent in the Middle East, making his green eyes seem even greener. "I miss you."

"I miss you, too," Tony sighed with a heavy smile. "I miss the kids; are they being good for you?"

"Angels," Leah replied, gently smiling. "They miss you. Tali hasn't been able to sleep. Grace is cranky. Jack is… Jack."

Tony laughed, softly. "Little man is never bothered by anything."

Leah glanced over her shoulder at the video screen on the baby monitor, and then glanced back at her phone. "Are you coming home soon?"

He took a deep breath and shook his head. "No, there's been some new…developments in the case. I need to stay in Israel a little while longer."

She sighed and looked down at her lap. "I understand; maybe you could call back later? When the kids are up? I think Tali would love to talk to you for a little while. She's scared you're over in Israel because you're sending her back there."

"What? I would never do that!"

"I know. She's three, she doesn't know that."

"I'll try to call when I get a free moment. At least tell her I love her and give her a kiss for me."

Leah smiled, gently. "Every night when I tuck them in I give them a kiss from you and then a kiss from me."

Tony laughed, sadly. "That's sweet. Hopefully I'll be back soon to give them my own kiss."

"Do you have any idea how much longer you'll be overseas?"

"As soon as this case wraps."

"And that will be…."

"Hope any day now."

She felt that he was keeping something from her but she wasn't sure what. Leah was used to his sometimes-cryptic conversations with her, but even this was far from the norm for Tony. "Is there something you're not telling me?"

He adverted making eye contact with her for a split second, and when he did that, she knew he was hiding something. "I can't talk about it right now, it's still a part of an open investigation."

Leah felt a sickening feeling in her stomach. "Fine. Just answer one last question for me—am I going to see you again? Will you be coming home to me and the kids?"

Tony's eyes filled with agony. "I don't know," he said, hoarsely. "This has turned out to be something much bigger than we originally thought, and the deeper it goes, the more dangerous it gets."

"Anthony… please… please be careful," Leah whispered. _I need you to come home to me—to us._

"I will, bella," Tony replied. Someone called for him in the distance. "I have to go. I love you."

Before she could even tell him she loved him, Tony's face was gone from her cell phone screen. The sick feeling in her stomach only grew. Leah let her cell phone slip from her hand and she dropped her chin to her chest, burying her face in her hands. That could have been the last time she ever spoke to Tony, the very last time she heard him say _I love you…_ the weight of the world was squarely planted on her shoulders.

Grace stirring on the baby monitor signaled that Leah had to swallow her fears. Her kids needed her to be strong, needed her to bury all of her fears, and to care for them. If she had to face life without Tony, she would do it for them.

* * *

Nick had only gone home to his apartment to shower and change. He had not slept in about twenty-four hours and coffee was the only thing he had consumed since dinner. He then had rushed back to NCIS, picking up breakfast for Ellie and Abby along the way. The trio had worked tirelessly through the night trying to pin-point Alec Lewis' whereabouts. They believed that he was still here in the States and they had alerted all the airports in the area to be on the look-out.

Ellie didn't feel like Lewis was going to stick around long, he was going to try to get out of D.C before NCIS or Mossad caught up to him. When Nick returned with breakfast, she reported, "We had a sighting in Ohio and the same time we had a sighting in Texas."

"Great," Nick sighed, putting the bag of food down. "Any _real_ leads pan out?"

"None yet," Abby mumbled. She was seated at Tim's desk. "Interpol thinks he slipped through our fingers back to Europe."

"I did find a last known residence for Lewis; in Israel," Ellie said. "Tony and Tim are going to check it out."

"Is this process usually this slow?" Nick quipped.

"It's been five days," Ellie said.

Nick shook his head and went to sit down at Tony's desk. Back when Gibbs was around leading the MCRT no one would have been allowed _near_ the team lead's desk—Tony didn't seem to mind; as long as his things were not disrupted. "It must feel like five weeks to Leah. We should have told her about Ziva."

Ellie glanced at Abby, briefly. "Tony requested until the case was wrapped that she didn't know about Ziva's murder. He's just trying to protect her from Lewis."

"Lewis isn't going to go after Leah. He knows where that file is."

"You think he's going to try to break into NCIS?"

"He busted into Mossad without anyone noticing, didn't he? Perhaps, he already hacked us."

Abby quickly booted up McGee's computer. "It will only take me a few moments to determine if our system was hacked and if the file was stolen. When he was at Mossad, he only got fragments of the file. Maybe this time he got the whole file and then we can really nail him!"

Nick rolled his eyes. "If anything it proves that our security sucks more than Mossad's security."

Ellie glared at him. "How we were supposed to know he was here? We didn't even see his face until recently."

"I thought McGee had all these firewalls set up so hacking wouldn't happen?" Nick questioned.

"He does; they've been hacked before," Abby said with a wave her hand. "But he also likes to leave little traps for hackers so we can easily find them. So, if Lewis hacked us, I can trace his IP address and we might be able to get a location on him."

"You really think he's that dumb?"

"Bad guys always screw up sometime, Torres."

"And when they do you're there to catch them?" he guessed.

"Precisely," Abby said with a grin. She brought something up on the plasma screen. "Got him. Lewis downloaded the file from an IP address originating in Russia of all places."

Nick stood up and glanced at Ellie. "We better tell the Director."

Ellie agreed. As she walked, she muttered, "It's always the Russians."

* * *

Tony and Tim, along with Malachi, traveled to the high-rise apartment in Tel Aviv that was owned by Alec Lewis. It was a modest place. One bedroom, one bathroom, very basic kitchen—the exact opposite of Tony's former opulent apartment in Washington.

It had very barebones furniture, reminded Tony of how Gibbs' kept his house. _Must be a marine thing,_ the lead agent thought as he slapped on a pair of latex gloves.

Across the hall, the neighbor had told them that she had not seen Lewis in several weeks. She didn't know what he did for a living but she knew that he traveled a lot. Interpol was still working on an exact location but they believed Lewis had slipped out of the U.S and headed back to Europe or the Middle East before NCIS alerted all airports.

"He keeps this place meticulously clean," Tim observed. "Hardly any signs that it's been lived in."

"Hires a maid," Malachi said, holding up a bill for a cleaning service. "It explains why it is so clean."

"He wants to make sure it looks like he's been here recently," Tony mused. "Even if he hasn't."

Tim looked around him. "Where do you think he went?"

Tony sighed and picked up a photograph a young, tall, beautiful blonde woman. _Lewis' wife._ "Your guess is as good as mine, McGee. He clearly wants what Eli David did to be brought out in the open, even if it might result in more violence, more lives lost. He's only thinking of his grief."

"Maybe that's why Ziva sent Lieutenant Ryan to Gibbs," Tim surmised.

"She sent him to Gibbs because she never really trusted me," Tony spat. "Otherwise, she would have told me about Tali."

Malachi cleared his throat, reminding Tony and Tim that he was in the room. "Ziva did trust you, Tony, and she did care for you; I assure you."

Tony frowned at him. He considered Malachi a friend, not a good one, but a friend non-the-less. "She had a funny way of showing it to me, Mal."

He sighed. Malachi knew that Tony and Ziva had a very complicated relationship; he never tried to figure it out. "I do not know if she had gone to you first if anything would have changed."

"Oh a lot would have changed," Tony snarled.

"Tony," Tim warned but it feel on deaf ears.

"My daughter's whole life would have changed," Tony continued. "Did you know that my wife legally adopted her? We thought that Ziva was dead. Do you know the legal mess we would have been facing?"

"Ziva was not going to pursue having the adoption nullified," Malachi replied.

Tony scoffed. "Doesn't matter. It would have been nullified automatically because she was alive," he paused, a heavy tension settling in the air, "wait a minute… Ziva knew about the adoption? How?"

Malachi blinked, a blank expression on his face. "I assumed that it was Orli that told her."

Tim could see the fire raging in Tony's eyes. He braced himself for the storm that was probably about to be unleashed.

"How did Orli know?" Tony growled. "That adoption was a closed one."

"I do not know, Tony," Malachi answered, honestly. "Does it really matter now?"

"Yes!" Tony shouted. "Yes it matters! That means someone close to me betrayed my trust!"

"You said that no one on your team knew Ziva was alive."

Tony's cell phone rang, ending their conversation. Seething with anger, he answered. "Abs. Do you have something for me all the way from D.C?"

Abby began talking rapidly, " _I do. We suspected that Lewis hacked into NCIS, just like he did Mossad. He managed to download the file; I traced the IP address thanks to Timmy's traps he sets up. It came from Russia."_

"Lewis is in Russia then," Tony concluded.

" _Yes. But wait. There's more!"_ Abby exclaimed. " _Lewis has been shopping the file around to the highest bidder."_

"Fabulous. Where is he?"

 _"Russia."_

"I know that, Abby!" Tony snapped. "Where in Russia?"

 _"Very remote part, almost in Siberia. Are you and Timmy up for a trip in the cold?"_

"We can manage."

 _"Sending you the coordinates now. And Tony?"_

"Yeah, Abby?" Tony questioned, softly.

Abby sighed, choking on her words. " _Please, please, please, take care of yourself and Tim. We all need you to come home."_

Tony promised her he would and hung the phone up. "Abby found Lewis. Gear up, Timmy, we're going to Russia."

Tim gasped, slightly. "Russia?"

"Hey, Tony," Malachi called from the bedroom. "You might want to come see this."

Moving across the apartment, the two NCIS agents proceeded into the bedroom. They found a single cot with white sheets that were very thin, and a whole wall covered with photographs. As Tony and Tim got closer they could see that they were photographs of Ziva—meeting with Ryan, meeting with Orli—her safe house and her car. Lewis had been studying Ziva for quite some time.

Tony licked his lips and sighed with a little bit of relief. There were no photos of his wife or kids. It put his mind at ease that perhaps Lewis had a thread of decency in him and that he wasn't going to go after his family.

Lewis' intention had always been to get the file and expose Eli David. If Leah and the kids didn't get in the way of that, Tony knew they were safe. However, that meant that everyone on his team was in danger. If Lewis found out that it had been Abby that had tracked him, he could very well go after her. _Or Ellie and Nick._

"We need to get to Russia," he whispered to Tim, "before anyone else we care for gets hurt."


	12. Chapter 12

**Warnings:** Same as usual.

 **A/N:** Hello, everyone! Here is the latest chapter. Enjoy! Thanks to everyone that has taken the time to leave feedback, but special thanks to **JENTWCSINYFAN2** , **DS2010** , **BuckeyeFan00000** , and **VG LittleBear** for taking the time to leave some feedback on every chapter.

* * *

"The Russian government is going to be watching you like a hawk," Vance told Tony as they spoke via video feed in MTAC. "I told them that you would go in quietly and quickly remove Lewis and bring him back to the U.S."

"What if Lewis doesn't come quietly?" Tony asked, voicing both their concerns. "Everything we know about him; he's willing to kill so the truth gets out."

Vance set his jaw. "As quietly as you can, DiNozzo. I do not need this turning into an international affair that involves not only Israel but Russia as well."

Tony nodded, solemnly. "I'll do my best, sir. I'll let you know when Tim and I land in Russia. And I promise that we'll fully cooperate with the Russian government to make things easier."

"You understand something I could never teach Gibbs," Vance mused.

"What's that sir?" Tony asked.

"Diplomacy."

"Well, Gibbs always told me not to be like him."

Vance sensed the tension in Tony's voice and his brow furrowed. "Is something going on between you and Gibbs that I should know about, DiNozzo?"

Tony shook his head, his body wrought with tension that was clearly jumping off the large screen in MTAC. "No sir, it's nothing that will interfere with my work on this case."

The Director had a feeling that there was going to be a confrontation between Gibbs and DiNozzo when the MCRT team leader returned to Washington—since returning from a leave of absence, Tony had not been afraid to put Gibbs in his place. "Very well," he finally said, "keep me updated, and bring Lewis back alive—if possible."

The lead agent grimly gave a small nod, happy that his boss had not pursued the matter further when it came to Gibbs. Tony just wanted to leave that alone until he got home. Right now, he one job to do. Get Lewis and make sure he and Tim got home in one piece. "I'll do my best, Director."

* * *

Gibbs pulled his rental car into the driveway of the beautifully preserved colonial home. He shut the car down and stared at the house, listening to the engine cool.

He had been released from the hospital four days ago. Ducky had informed him that Tony and Tim had been overseas for nine and no one knew when they were returning to Washington. The M.E wasn't sure where the two agents were at this point. Nobody was talking about it at NCIS; it was a very big secret. _Or a cover up,_ Gibbs concluded.

Climbing out of the car, gingerly, Gibbs closed the door and made his way to the back door. He knew that Leah was home, her SUV was parked in front of the garage. He stepped onto the back steps and knocked.

Leah was in the kitchen, the baby in her arms and Gibbs could see that Tali and Jack were seated at the island, eating. She smiled when she saw him and went to open the door. "Checking up on us?"

"Heard Tony was still away," Gibbs said, stepping into the house. He reached out and smoothed Grace's hair. She smiled at him. "Must be hard on all of you."

"It has been," Leah said, taking a steadying breath. "I haven't heard from Tony in four days. All he would tell me the last time we talked was that the case was deeper than he originally believed."

"Are they still in Israel?"

"Yes…well they were four days ago. They could have moved on by now I guess."

Gibbs knew that there was probably a very good reason that Tony was keeping Leah in the dark—he was worried for her safety and that of the children. "I'm sure he'll call as soon as he can."

Leah looked away, at Tali and Jack, and then heaved another steadying breath. "Do you want something to eat? We were just finishing up our lunch."

He shook his head. "I'm good. Thanks. Really just came here to see if you needed anything."

She turned away, slightly, and her shoulders shook a little. "I'm fine. My parents have been helping out when they can."

"If Tony hasn't called, he has a good reason," Gibbs assured her.

"I know," Leah replied, placing the baby in her bouncy seat on the floor. She secured the baby in the seat and sighed. "I just hope it isn't because he can't call me."

Gibbs wasn't sure what to say.

Leah turned and her blue eye burned bright with unshed tears. "I hate this, Gibbs. I know my husband is a great agent but I want him home with me; I'm tired of the constant worry. Does that make me selfish?"

He shook his head. "No. You're not the first wife to wonder if her husband is coming home."

She adverted her eyes, jaw twitching. "Somedays, I wish he'd resign."

"Mama," Tali said, interrupting them. "Can we go out to play?"

"Yes," Leah replied, smiling at her daughter. "Clean up first, please."

Tali climbed down from her perch on the stool at the island and went to the dishwasher to put her plate inside. "Grandpa, are you going to come outside with us?"

Gibbs smiled at her. "Sure. Go grab your coat. It's a little chilly out."

Leah watched as her daughter happily ran off to get her coat. She wiped the peanut butter from Jack's face. "Are you going to go outside with your sister and Grandpa Gibbs?"

Jack glanced at Gibbs for a moment. "Will you make me new slide for birthday?"

"Jackson," Leah sighed, glaring at him.

"Pleaze?" Jack added, his blue eyes twinkling.

Gibbs chuckled and reached out to ruffle the boy's hair. "I think I can manage a new slide, maybe a tree house too."

Jack's eyes grew wide. "A treehouse!"

Leah sent him on his way to get his jacket. "If you build him a treehouse, he might move out there."

"His sisters might like that someday."

"Don't be surprised if Tony moves out there with him."

"Tony didn't have a childhood, Leah," Gibbs said, "at least not in the typical sense. I think he's trying to live vicariously through your kids. I don't blame him."

Grace gurgled in her bouncy seat and Leah glanced down at her daughter. A big, bright smile spread across the baby's face; at night the baby was struggling with no daddy to sing and rock to her, but during the day she was all smiles.

Leah turned away when she heard the kids little footsteps in the hall way. What was she going to do if Tony didn't come home? She had faced that fear two years ago, when Jack had been a baby. She did not want to face it again.

Tali, jacket on inside out, proudly stood in the middle of the kitchen. "Ok, Grandpa! We're ready!"

Gibbs smiled at her and reached his hand out to the little girl, he then scoped Jack up into his other arm. "Let's go."

"Wait, Grandpa," Jack said, looking at his mother. "What about Mama and Gracie?"

"I think we'll stay inside," Leah told her son. "Grace is going to nap soon and I have some work to do."

Jack frowned. Leah leaned over and gave him a kiss on his cheek. "Go on," she said, smiling, "you'll have fun with Grandpa."

Tali tugged on Gibbs hand. "Come on, Grandpa!"

Gibbs chuckled and headed outside to the backyard, where he put Jack down and found a chair that he could sit in while the two children ran around and played. His heart clenched thinking about how this family could be torn to pieces; even though his former senior field agent had promised to keep him updated on what was going on in Israel, Gibbs had not spoken to Tony since he called him to inform him of Liat showing up at the DiNozzos' house.

Jack and Tali played, with not a care in the world. They might understand that their father was far away but they did not understand the dangers at their young age. Gibbs just prayed that the dangers Tony was facing didn't rip him away from his family.

* * *

Tony pulled the heavy, work coat close to his neck. Ball cap slung low over his eyes to hide his face, he walked quietly down a muddy street in a remote Russian village. Intel had tracked Lewis here and locals had identified him. Right now, Lewis was in a cabin just a few miles from where they were but they were waiting for clearance from the Russian government to go in and get him. Tony was sure they were going to be waiting a long time for that.

Passing abandoned buildings as he made his way to the small hole in the wall that he was sharing with Tim, Tony sighed. It felt like he had been away from home for months. It had only been a little over a week.

"Vance wants an update," Tim informed him after he had pushed the heavy wood door to their shack open.

"What the hell does he think I'm going to tell him?" Tony snapped. He pulled his ball cap off and tossed it aside. "We're still waiting for the Russians to approve our operation. That could take months if not years."

"If we ever get the approval," Tim muttered.

Tony sighed and sat down, the sofa creaking underneath his weight. "So, how long do we wait here, in Russia? Those babies are going to be arriving any day now."

Tim looked at his hands and shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. The twins could already be here and I've missed it. I haven't talked to Delilah in days."

"You know I would tell you that isn't healthy for the marriage—but I'm no better. I haven't spoken to Leah in just as long," Tony said.

"Some husbands we make," Tim snarked.

"No one said it was going to be easy to be a husband and a federal agent."

"It was easier when I was just a federal agent."

"Easier but not happier."

"Hard to feel happy in _this_ place."

Tony chuckled just as his satellite phone rang. He slowly got up from the sofa and answered it. "DiNozzo."

Tim watched as his partner talked on the phone, as his green eyes grew hard and his jaw line tightened. Before Tony even hung up and told him, he knew—they had finally gotten their clearance. It was time to go arrest their murderer.

He grabbed his ball cap once again and pulled it on. Tony gave one last look around their tiny shack and stepped outside. It was at least a thirty-minute drive to the area in the woods that Lewis lived at; and they had to travel over muddy, rugged roads. "Ready?" he asked, before starting their jeep up.

"Yeah," Tim said, nodding his head. He placed his SIG in his lap. "Ready. Let's go get him."

* * *

"Director?" Nick Torres said, stepping into the office. "We just got word from Agent DiNozzo—the Russians gave them the go-ahead."

"Are they on their way now to pick him up?" Vance asked, putting his reading glasses down onto his desk.

"Yes," Nick replied. "Interpol is on stand-by in Poland if they're needed."

Vance sighed and thanked him for the update. He watched as Nick left the office and headed back to the bullpen. When this was all over he was going to speak to DiNozzo about adding Torres to the team. He had proven his worth during this last case and there was a need for another agent on the MCRT.

Picking up his office phone, he asked Pam to call the SecNav. She was going to want to know that her agents were mobilized in Russia and bringing a very dangerous man in to face the music.


	13. Chapter 13

**Warnings: Same as usual.**

 **A/N:** Hello, everyone! We are almost at the end of this one, can you believe it? Thank you for all your feedback, it really does mean a lot to me!

 **Guest-** _Thank you! I'm so glad that you are enjoying the story!_

* * *

Tony had pulled the jeep off the road about a mile out from Lewis' cabin. He hid it amongst the brush and together the two agents got out, pulling on tactical gear. Neither of them, with wives and children at home, were going to taking any chances.

They would make their way to Lewis' cabin on foot, using the thick foliage to hide their approach. Tony knew that he had help in Poland in the form of Interpol, however, he'd have to chase Lewis' all the way to the other country before they would be able to act… he would much rather just slap his cuffs on Lewis and drag his ass to the Moscow airport.

"Ready?" Tony asked his partner, pulling his weapon.

"Ready. Let's get the scumbag," Tim replied.

Quickly, they set out towards the cabin. A thousand different thoughts ran through Tony's head as they proceeded along the rocky terrain. In a few short minutes this was all going to be over; he could go home, he could see his kids and he could hold his wife. _This whole ordeal with Mossad that started with Kate will be over,_ Tony concluded. _Finally._

Lewis' cabin was even more basic than the one that Gibbs had built in the Virginia wilderness. It didn't surprise Tony, Lewis wanted to stay off the grid, just like Gibbs had. He probably thought if he stayed here for a while no one would track him, they would forget about the two murders and he'd be able to come out of hiding.

Tony wasn't about to let Lewis forget that he had murdered a marine and Ziva; he wasn't about to forget that Lewis had murdered the mother of his child.

Tim stayed close on his heels, covering his partner's back. He thoughts were also on home, if his twins had been born yet or if he would make it back to Washington in time. Delilah wouldn't be angry with him if he missed the birth of their first children, but she would certainly be disappointed.

"Stay alert, Tim," Tony whispered as they climbed the steps up to the front door.

"Got it, boss," Tim replied, softly.

Reaching out, Tony softly opened the door, SIG aiming inside. He stepped into the small cabin first. There was a couch, a small radio on a TV tray, and a double-barreled shot gun leaning against the wall. There was no sign of Lewis. Moving through the cabin, they cleared all three of the tiny rooms before making it to the back.

Frustrated, Tony kicked the backdoor open and stepped outside on to the dinky porch. "We waited too long," he snapped. "I bet someone tipped Lewis off that we were here."

Tim frowned. How much longer could they keep up the chase? _If we stay away much longer we're both going to need divorce lawyers,_ he thought. "Now what?"

A twig snapping startled the two federal agents. Tony and Tim looked up to see Lewis standing in the brush with firewood in his hands. For a moment no one moved, until a look of familiarity washed over their suspect's face and he took off running, dropping the firewood.

"Son of a bitch!" Tony shouted as he tore after Lewis.

They ran through thick brush, Tony dodged low hanging tree branches and giant trees all together as he tried to close the gap between him and Lewis. The harder they ran, the angrier Tony got. Finally, when he was almost on top of Lewis, he cocked his gun. "Alec Lewis! Freeze! Or I'm going to shoot you where you stand!"

Tony was fully expecting him to run, but instead Lewis stopped, and turned, snickering at him. "Really? I did you a favor. Is that how you're going to thank me?"

"A favor? What favor?"

"Ziva David. You no longer have to worry about her taking your daughter away."

Blind rage threatened to control him. Tony knew that he should arrest Lewis and bring him to face charges but the fury at what the man had done to his family, however indirectly, threatened to take over the NCIS agent. His anger wanted him to pull the trigger. "You're alone out here, Lewis. You know that—you know that we've cornered you."

Laughter filled the forest, an evil, deep laughter from Lewis. "Cornered? It's you against me right now," Lewis stated drily. His blue eyes reflected hate and torment and evil. "Are you going to shoot me, Agent DiNozzo?"

It took all of Tony's will power _not_ to pull the trigger. "I should. I can tell them you pulled a weapon on me, that I had to kill you in self-defense. No one will cry over you."

Lewis cracked a chilling grin. "But you won't because you toe the line—never cross it. Tell me, would your boss do the same? No. I bet Agent Gibbs would have the balls to pull the trigger. Ms. David certainly would have. Good thing I nullified that threat."

Tony's rage bristled. He had to keep in check. Lewis was trying to incite a reaction out of him. He didn't want prison time but he wasn't about to go quietly. He'd much rather go out at the hands of Tony's Sig. "Agent Gibbs might have surprised you. But he isn't here. I am. And I'm going to arrest you. Right now, there's a long line of agencies that want you—NCIS, CIA, FBI—I even heard that Mossad is looking for you. Maybe I'll just hand you over to them. I bet you'd like their brand of justice."

"I did Israel a service, exposing that fraud Eli David for what he really was," Lewis snapped. His evil grin grew larger. "If you want to align yourself with them, if you want to be a part of the cover up, then I cannot be responsible for who comes after you or your family."

"If they know what's good for them," Tony growled, protectively, "they'll stay away from my family. Especially my kids."

Lewis raised his eyebrows. "Oh. I've found your weakness. Tali was Ms. David's weakness; she was even willing to fake her death to keep her precious little one safe. I'm wondering what you are willing to do? What would you do, Agent DiNozzo, to keep Tali safe—would you cross the line? Kill me when your orders are probably to bring me in _alive?_ "

Tony squeezed back on the trigger ever so slightly. _Go on, give me one good reason to kill you._ He let the rage fully engulf him now. _Just pull the trigger, Anthony. Rid this monster of your life, protect the ones you love. Screw the consequences!_ But then Leah's voice, her face invaded his thought process and he instantly felt a calming sensation. Lewis was using his love of his family to make himself a martyr. Tony wouldn't give him that satisfaction. "You think you're going to get me to shoot you simply by threatening her? There are avenues I can follow to protect her and once I get you back to the States you better damn well believe I'll be doing just that. So keep goading. I'm not about to make you a martyr."

His eyes boiled in loathing and Tony knew he'd forced the man to snap. Lewis came at the federal agent fast and furiously, narrowly hitting Tony's arm and changing the course of the bullet that shot from the SIG in Tony's hand. Suddenly, the team leader was tumbling through the air, his back slamming into the hard ground and the air leaving his body.

Defensively he swung and connected with Lewis' jaw. Tony heard the crack of bone breaking and he twisted about furiously trying to get into position to shoot. Lewis was a trained marine after all and something Gibbs said years ago ran through Tony's brain— _they taught us fighting._

Tony's arm holding the gun was twisted and his shoulder popped. He screamed, painfully, the SIG falling from his grasp. Lewis kicked him. Tony's body crumbled and rolled, only stopping when his back hit a tree. Through the pain induced fog he could see Lewis cock his weapon and point it at him.

And then, out of nowhere Tim came flying, slamming his shoulder into Lewis and knocking him to the ground. Tony lost sight of the SIG but he managed to crawl up onto all fours and search frantically for something he could use as a weapon.

During his search, he heard Tim let out a guttural scream and Tony glanced up. He saw the knife, saw it slash its way down Tim's arm—Tim who had come running when he heard the gun shot, Tim who had jumped into the fray to protect his partner without a second thought. Now the blind rage took hold and Tony tore off, over the dried pine needles and grabbed a hold of Lewis' arm holding the knife.

Planting his knee firmly in Lewis' back, Tony managed to rip the knife away and threw it aside; it got wedge in a nearby tree. He struggled with the former CIA operative a while longer until he was able to grab the other arm and bring it behind Lewis' back.

Lewis growled as Tony slapped his handcuffs on him, and then dug a zip tie out of his pocket to secure Lewis' legs.

Tony, breathing heavily, snarled, "You're not going anywhere, bastard." He got up off Lewis' back and went to help Tim to his feet. "You okay, Tim?"

"Besides the knife wound in my arm? Yeah, I'm okay. Thanks for asking."

"No problem."

"What about you? Are you okay?"

"Dislocated my shoulder."

"Tony," Tim said with a heavy sigh.

"Yeah," Tony replied. He winced when his shoulder stung.

Tim took a deep breath. "Let's get the hell out of here and go home."

Tony hauled Lewis to his feet. "I couldn't have said it better myself, Tim."


	14. Chapter 14

**Warnings:** Same as usual.

 **A/N:** New chapter! Enjoy!

* * *

Tony had to admit that the Russian doctors patched them up quite nicely, however, the unusually long wait to board a flight home was perplexing him. He became very suspicious when they were offered a room in Moscow for the evening. His gut stirred as government agents escorted them to their room and proceeded to guard the entrance. He was told they were there for their safety.

Both their weapons had been confiscated. What had turned out to be friendly cooperation between NCIS and Russia was turning into almost hostile relations. "I don't like this," Tony whispered to his partner once they were alone in the hotel room.

Tim was searching for a bug, but had yet to find any. "Me neither. Should we try and call Vance? After all, he was under the impression that the Russian government was going to let us apprehend Lewis and then take him back to the U.S."

"I would, if I wasn't afraid my phone was being tapped," Tony said. He flopped down onto one of the double beds.

"Maybe they just need to clear some paperwork or something," Tim suggested.

Tony chuckled. "Oh, Timmy, you're always so positive. Do you remember the last time you were in Russia?"

Tim winced. "I don't like to think about it too much."

"Well," Tony said, retrieving his bag, "hopefully this will be all cleared up by morning and we'll be on our way home."

"And if it's not?" Tim asked. "What do we do then?"

"Go all Gibbs on them," Tony said with a grin.

"DiNozzo, that didn't work out too well the last time."

"I know, but do you have any other suggestions as to how to get out of this?"

Tim didn't have any suggestions; not now. He was exhausted, hungry, and just wanted to go home. Sitting down on the bed opposite of Tony, he rubbed his hands over his face.

Tony got up and walked over to his partner and gently lad his hand on his shoulder. "Tim. It's going to be fine. We'll get home before those babies are born, promise."

* * *

Someone pounding on their hotel door at four o'clock the following morning woke both NCIS agents.

Tony rolled over onto his side and flipped the light on. Outside the room he could hear voices mumbling in Russian and he cursed that he hadn't asked Gibbs to give him a crash course in the language all those years ago. Climbing out of bed, he went to answer the door, Tim close on his heels.

A tall, pale, and thin man wearing a cheap suit stood on the other side. He glanced Tony up and down, and scowled a little at the two Americans. "You might want to put some clothes on," he said in English with a slight Russian accent.

The NCIS agent looked down at his boxers only clad body and smiled. "You're lucky we're meeting after I got married, otherwise you'd be seeing me in my birthday suit."

"Your birthday suit?" the Russian asked, confused.

 _Oh, American idioms don't just confuse the Israelis,_ Tony thought. He shook his head. "Never mind, it doesn't matter. Can I ask why you woke us up in the middle of the night."

The Russian pulled out a photo identification and showed it to Tony. "My name is Alexi. We have some questions for you Agent DiNozzo before we can let you return to the United States."

"Listen, I did everything the book to arrest Lewis," Tony said.

"Yes. We agree. This has nothing to do with Alec Lewis," Alexi said. "In fact, Interpol is escorting him back to NCIS as we speak."

Tony was now angry. "Then why are you holding us here?"

Alexi gestured to come into the hotel room. Tony allowed him, slamming the door shut behind the two Russian police officers that followed Alexi in. The Russian reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. "Do you mind if I smoke?"

Before Tony could answer the man had lit up a cigarette. He bristled; every fiber of his being told him that he was being held here as a prisoner. "Are you going to tell me why I'm being kept here? Or are you going to finish your butt first?"

He smiled, continued smoking. "Like I said, we have a few questions to ask you, Agent DiNozzo. You must understand that we were quite surprised to learn that a CIA agent was living on our soil. NCIS has even had undercover operations to take out KGB agents, have they not?"

"Before my time," Tony answered, honestly. "We were just as surprised to find Lewis in Russia as you were. He wasn't here spying for the CIA. He was here hiding from everyone."

"Maybe he was," Alexi said, "until everything is cleared up—we would just like to hold you here. I do not think it will take more than a few days."

"Now, wait just a second!" Tony shouted, fury taking over. "We played by _your_ rules! You have no reason to hold us here!"

"Lewis warned you to be careful who you aligned yourself with, Agent DiNozzo," Alexi said, calmly. "You should have thought twice about joining forces with Mossad."

Tony's jaw clenched. "How did you know he said that to me? I didn't write that in my report."

Alexi put his cigarette out and stood up. He fixed his cheap blazer and smiled, coldly. "We will be going now. Please, enjoy the meal that will be prepared for you. Feel free to call any loved ones using the hotel phone. We will cover the costs."

All three of the Russians exited the hotel room, the door once again slamming shut behind them. Tony grabbed his clothes and pulled them on, even though it hurt his injured shoulder. "Get dressed, Probie."

"Why? What are you going to do?" Tim asked, nervously.

"How did that man know what Lewis said to me in the forest?" Tony retorted, hotly. "He's in on this. Get dressed!"

"You think we're just going to walk out the front door?" Tim spat, grabbing his clothes and yanking them on. "There are guards right outside our room."

Tony went to the window and pulled the curtain back. He could see the fire escape. "We're going out the fire escape, Timmy."

Tim groaned. "And where are going after that?"

"Russian authorities."

"Alexi _was_ the Russian authorities!"

"Do you want to make it home to those babies or not?" Tony argued, popping open the window.

"Tony, this is insane," Tim countered.

"We stay here, we'll be dead in the hour. Come on!"

"I can't believe I'm following you right now."

Tony grinned as he slipped out the window into the cold. The sun was just starting to come up so they would have the cover of darkness for a while to make it to a safe place before Alexi discovered they had fled the coup. Once on the street below him, Tony looked up and watched as his partner made his way down.

No sooner and Tim's feet hit the pavement when above them their room burst into a fireball. Both agents instinctively ducked for cover before Tony grabbed Tim by the shoulder, yanked him to his feet, and took off running.

* * *

"Director Vance, I assure you we are investigating what happened to your agents," the Russian counselor spoke over the video feed in MTAC. "Once it is safe, my people will comb through the debris and search for their remains."

"I want to know why they at that hotel in the first place," Vance snapped. "They were supposed to escort Alec Lewis back to the United States once they arrested him."

"And I was told by a colleague of mine that they were," the counselor said. "This is as much of a mystery for us as it is for you. I was not even aware that your agents were still in Russia."

Vance looked over his left shoulder at Bishop and Torres. "What can we do here to help you?"

The counselor sighed. "I do not know, Director Vance. I assure you that I will report all of our findings to you."

As the screen went black, Vance cursed. He turned towards the two agents standing with them. "When was the last communication you had with DiNozzo?"

"Just before they were going to apprehend Lewis," Bishop replied. "I tried his phone; the number is being blocked."

"Someone didn't want us to know they were being held," Torres said.

"They have ten hours," Vance snapped, "to give me something, or I'm getting the State Department involved."

Bishop took a deep breath. "What do we tell Leah and Delilah?"

Vance's jaw tightened. "Nothing until we know more."

"Director," the technician called. "The Russian counselor is requesting to speak to you—again."

"Put him on," Vance snapped turning towards the screen.

Instead of the Russian counselor appearing on the large screen, it was Tony. "Sorry about the confusion, Director," the lead agent said, "Tim and I left that hotel room in a hurry before it exploded on us."

Vance clenched his fists. "What the hell happened, DiNozzo?"

"When we arrived in Moscow the Russian police took Lewis into custody," Tony reported. "Then they took our weapons and told us that we would be staying in the city for a while. We were visited by a man early this morning claiming we were under investigation for espionage—come to find out, he was working with Lewis. They sprung him, held us, and then attempted to kill us. I don't know where Lewis is now, sir."

"Does Lewis still have the file?" Vance asked, anxiously.

"No sir. Mossad confiscated his computer at his apartment in Tel Aviv."

"Have you informed Mossad that Lewis escaped?"

Tony nodded. "I talked to Orli myself. Warned her that Lewis is a very loose cannon. He told us to be careful who we align ourselves with, Director. He said he can't be responsible for anyone we love getting hurt."

Vance looked at Torres, who nodded silently in understanding that he wanted the agent to check up on their families. "Any idea where Lewis might have gone?"

"No sir," Tony answered. "And with all due respect sir, Tim and I are ready to come home; we've be away long enough."

"Agreed," Vance said. "Don't worry, we're going to run Lewis' picture on every news station. We'll find him, DiNozzo."

* * *

Seventy-two hours after narrowly escaping NCIS, Lewis made his way through Heathrow International Airport, keeping his head low and trying not to draw attention to himself. After Alexi had freed him, Lewis had traveled to Poland using an old alias, and from there set out to London.

By now he was sure that Alexi had finished off the NCIS agents, so he believed that he was in the clear. He certainly could not return to Russia, or Israel, and getting back into the United States was probably going to be tricky…

Suddenly, he felt a gun in his back. "Don't move," a familiar voice growled in his ear.

"You're supposed to be dead," Lewis snarled as Tony cuffed.

"Funny you should mention that," Tony snapped, leading the former CIA operative through the airport, "your buddy Alexi goofed up; I knew he wasn't legit and I got out before that hotel room blew up. He sung like a canary when Interpol caught up him to. Said you paid him a lot of money to help you track down Ziva."

Lewis ground his teeth. "You think you've won, don't you?"

Tony chuckled as they stepped outside in the rain. Tim was waiting with a car that was going to take them to the Royal Airforce base where they would hop on a cargo plane back to the U.S. "I did win, Lewis. You didn't manage to off me like you did my former partner and that marine. And you're not getting away this time because we have a nice military escort waiting for us to take us back to D.C."

"Bastard."

"Huh, they used to call my boss that," Tony said, shoving Lewis into the back seat of the car. "Be glad he didn't find you."

Tim slammed the door shut. Tony pat him on the shoulder and got in on the driver's side of the car. Once his partner was settled into the passenger seat, they were good to go. Now, they were _finally_ going home.


	15. Chapter 15

**Warnings:** Same as usual.

 **A/N:** Thank everyone for all the support. Someone recently posed a question to me via PM about having a story where Leah is the more central character. I've had an idea kicking around in my head for sometime about Leah being the one away and faces a natural disaster while on an expedition. Not a case fic, certainly not fluff (LOL) but it would have Leah front and center as the character in peril (and would have more domestic Tony, Daddy Tony than Agent Tony). Would anyone be interested in that? I'd like to put some feelers out...

By the way, this story is almost complete. Enjoy! **Guest, thank you for leaving a review. I hope you enjoy this update!**

* * *

Nick returned to NCIS very early on Saturday morning, after everything had settled down, after Lewis had been booked, to retrieve his cell phone. He was surprised to find Tony still working at his desk. He expected that once their suspect was booked and in a holding cell for the evening the senior agent would be long gone. "You're still here?"

Tony smiled but didn't look up from what he was working on. "I do my best work at night," he quipped.

Confused, Nick looked around the empty bullpen. There was no one else around, except for the agents on call for the weekend. "But, it's Saturday morning? Did you not go home last night?"

Finally, Tony glanced up at the younger agent. "Drove McGee home so he could be with Delilah and then came back here to wrap up some paper work. By the time everything was all set, it was late. Figured Leah and the kids would be fast asleep by the time I was finished, so I showered here, grabbed a few winks on Abby's futon, and got up early to finish all this paperwork."

"She wasn't sleeping the other night when Vance had me check on her," Nick said. "I don't think she sleeps well when you're gone."

"She doesn't," Tony replied, tiredly. "Something we have in common."

"So, why are you still here then?"

"Actually, there was something I had to finish before Monday; agent transfer."

Nick grabbed his cell phone off the empty desk that once been Tim's. "Did you finally pick a new agent? Ellie was complaining the whole time you were gone how shorthanded the team has been."

Tony signed the form he was working on and stood. He winced, slightly, because his shoulder still hurt. "She'll be happy to know that I did fill that spot." The lead agent paused, glanced at the younger man standing before him. "You start on Monday, Torres. Unless of course you need more time to sort things out…"

"Wait? What? You _want_ me?"

"Uh-huh, you work well with Ellie and Tim. You're a nice fit."

"Are you sure about that?" Nick questioned.

"I am," Tony replied, honestly. "I've spent months combing through files of recommended agents. So… what do you say? Are you going to the job? Promise… I'm not as tough as Gibbs."

Nick thought about it for a brief second, then smiled, taking the hand that Tony offered him. If an agent like Tony could find a home here in Washington, then so couldn't he.

Tony snatched the form up with a grin. He told Nick to rest up for the weekend and headed towards Vance's office. He had just completed the final piece of paper work for the evening; now he was free to go home and spend the rest of the weekend with his family.

* * *

Leah was up before any of the kids, the sun had just tinted the sky pink. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and headed into the kitchen. Eleven days of being a single parent was starting to take its toll on her and she had begun to contemplate taking her mother up on the offer for Katherine to come stay with her.

There was a pile of papers on her desk that needed to be graded and she needed to start her lesson plans for the following week. She hated to call the nanny on the weekend, it was supposed to be Amelia's time off...

Suddenly, the scent of a freshly brewed pot of coffee hit her nostrils, followed by a woodsy waft of cologne. _Anthony._ Leah was wide awake now as she rushed into the kitchen to discover her husband standing at the island, preparing breakfast, wearing a simple tee shirt and jeans, stubble covering his face.

"Buongiorno, bella," Tony greeted with a tired smile. "Hungry?"

"Yes," Leah whispered. "Why… why didn't you call me?"

Tony turned the cooktop on and continued smiling at her. "I wanted to surprise you with a homemade pancake breakfast. Plus, it was rather late when I finally got out of Russia…and then had to work things out with Mossad and Interpol on what to do with our suspect…"

Leah rapidly blinked. "Russia? I thought you were in Israel?"

He chuckled and ladled the first pancakes onto the griddle. "I _was_ in Israel. Things took a bit of a turn."

She watched him carefully, noting that he was only using his left arm. "What happened to your arm?"

"Dislocated my shoulder."

"Why isn't it in a sling?"

"Took off to get on the plane."

Leah noticed his duffle bag by the door. She was torn between going to get the sling she knew was in there and grab him by the waist and kiss him. She chose the latter.

Tony's good arm wrapped around her and he deepened the kiss. "God, I missed you bella," he whispered, pulling away from her. "I hated being away for that long." _I did it to protect you, the kids._

She pulled back and took his stubble covered face between her hands. "I know. We managed just fine."

He looked in to her eyes. There was no anger, no frustration. "I still don't deserve you."

"Abba!" Tali shouted, joyfully as she ran full speed at her parents. "You're home!"

"Yes," Tony said, scooping Tali up and kissing her cheek. "I'm home."

Tali wrapped her little arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. "Abba, I missed you."

Tony closed his eyes and buried his face against her curly hair. "I missed you, too."

The little girl pulled back and glanced him, a pleading gaze in her hazel eyes. "Abba, I want to stay here, in Washington. I don't want to go back to Israel. Please don't send me back. I'll be good, I promise!"

He felt his heart shatter. Tony shifted her to his hip and painfully used his injured arm to flip the pancakes. He then kissed his daughter's temple. "Tali, I promise you, you are not going anywhere. You're going to stay right here with Mama and I."

She hugged again, this time latching on so tightly that Tony was sure she was going to choke him. Tali rested her head on his shoulder and whispered, "I love you."

"I love you, too, Tali-wog," Tony whispered back, grinning. He inched towards the stove and once again used his injured arm to scoop the pancakes off the griddle. "Want some pancakes with Mama?"

"Yes," Tali answered, but not letting go of her father.

"Okay… you're going to have to let me go," Tony chuckled.

Tali let him lower her to the floor. "What about Jack?"

Tony put the stack of pancakes on a plate, setting the plate on the island. "Why don't you go get him?"

Leah watched as the little girl ran off. She quietly poured herself a cup of coffee. "Is that true?"

"Is what true?" he asked, ladling more pancakes onto the griddle.

"That she isn't going anywhere? She's staying with us?" she questioned, a slight hint of fear in her voice.

Tony took a deep breath and nodded. "She's staying with us."

Leah gripped the coffee mug in her hands. "So, Ziva's dead?"

He swallowed the bile in his throat. "Yes. She was killed in a car accident a month ago, in Israel. I saw the reports this time and got confirmation."

She didn't know what to say. She could never imagine leaving her children for a whole year. "Why?" Leah asked, "Why did she fake her death?"

"To protect me; to protect Tali," Tony answered. "Maybe even to protect you, Jack, and Grace."

"Then I wish I got the chance to thank her," Leah said, with a sad smile.

Tony reached for her hand and grasped it, giving it a gentle squeeze as someone knocked on the backdoor. He wasn't surprised to see his former boss step through the door; he was certain that Gibbs had been checking in with Leah since being released from the hospital and he instantly chilled towards the former marine.

Leah felt it immediately. She had been around both men long enough to read their moods, and right now her husband was silently seething. For reasons, she wasn't entirely sure. "Do you want some coffee?" she greeted Gibbs with a smile. "Tony just put a fresh pot on."

Gibbs smiled and sat down at the island, his bones aching from working too long on the boat last night. "I'd love some coffee, thanks. I wasn't expecting you to be home, DiNozzo."

"Just got in last night," Tony said, quietly. He turned his back on Gibbs, grabbed his mug and headed towards the den.

"Something I said?" Gibbs questioned Leah as she handed him his coffee.

"Your guess is as good as mine," Leah said with a shrug. "He was in a good mood before you came in."

"Ah, so it's me," Gibbs said, nodding. "Figured."

"So, you're not going to deny it?" Tony snapped, suddenly from the hall.

Leah swallowed, very much aware that Tali and Jack were going to be coming downstairs to breakfast any moment now. She would hate for them to witness their father this angry. "Anthony, maybe now isn't the time."

Tony stepped into the kitchen. "The hell it isn't," he growled. "Why don't you tell her Gibbs? Tell her that Orli called you and said she was suspicious about Ziva's death and that _you_ kept it from us even when she went to adopt her."

Gibbs looked at the couple, remorsefully. He quietly thanked Leah for the coffee and stood up. "I think I'm going to go."

"Run? That's your answer?" Tony hissed. "By the way, that's the same as denial, Gibbs."

"When you cool down a little we can talk," Gibbs said, thanking Leah once more before stepping out and shutting the door behind him.

Leah let out a slow breath and was about to comment when Tali suddenly spoke up, "Abba are you mad at Grandpa?"

Tony glanced at his daughter, standing there holding Jack's hand, gazing up at him with those big, innocent eyes. _Damn it._ "No, why do you say that?"

Tali looked at her brother and then at her parents. "Because you were yelling at him. I yell at Jack when I get mad."

He was suddenly at a loss for words, which very rarely happened to him. Tony sighed and reached out, stroking both children, gently on the tops of their heads. "Sometimes adults get angry and yell at each other, it doesn't mean they love each other any less, okay?"

Jack lunged at him then, hugging his father tightly. "I miss you, Daddy."

"I missed you too, buddy," Tony whispered. He leaned down and picked the little boy up. "Come on, let's have some pancakes."

* * *

Late that afternoon Tony, the baby snuggled in his arms, found Leah in her office. "There's Mommy," he cooed to the happy little baby.

Leah looked up from the stack of papers she was grading. "I see she's happy her best friend is home."

Tony gazed at Grace, lovingly. "She gets crabby when I try to put her down for a few moments. I don't mind; I'm behind on my snuggle time with her. Very behind, to be honest."

"Are Tali and Jack napping?"

"Watching a movie. They have popcorn, they're fine."

"So, are you and Grace here to see if I need help?"

"We thought you could use a little company."

Leah closed the paper she had just finished working on, and glanced at him, pointedly. "Or you could go take a ride now that you've calmed down some."

Tony frowned. "Leah, don't make me go over there and talk to him. Not this time. He had plenty of chances to come clean with me before I found out she was alive. He didn't."

Grace gurgled and stuck her pudgy fingers in her mouth, grinning. Leah watched her daughter for a second before leaning back in her chair and running a hand through her messy hair. "Are you just going to let it stew? That doesn't solve anything."

"This doesn't have an any fix," Tony whispered with a shake of his head. "Not this time, sweetheart."

"But..."

"Abba! Jack spilled his juice everywhere!"

Tony turned to go assist with the mess in the den; before leaving he told her, softly, "Please, Leah, don't force me this time to make peace. Some things just are not forgivable."


	16. Chapter 16

**Warnings:** Same as usual.

 **A/N:** Hello, everyone! Thanks **BuckeyeFan00000** and **arctict** for your feedback on the Leah centric story, I think I'm going to run with it and see what I come up with! I'm not sure when I'll have it posted, I wanted to start posting something else after this, but I will definitely be writing it!

 **Anne:** _T_ _hank you! I'm so happy you like the story :)_

* * *

Back in the day, Tony would have been the one to make peace, but he couldn't reconcile this time.

Leah didn't force him this time either; she certainly hated the idea of the whole thing. What was she to do in a couple of weeks when she had Jack's birthday party? Surely the little boy was going to want his grandpa there, and Tony had made no mention of wanting to cut Gibbs out of the lives of the kids. "Is this going to be like _Friends?_ You know, where Rachel's parents couldn't even be in the same room?" she asked one evening a week after Tony arrived home.

Tony continued to load the dishwasher. For a moment, it appeared that it wasn't going to answer her, but then, "No. I can be civil when he's here for Jack's birthday. I don't want to punish my son. He wants his grandpa here; I'm not going to deny him that. After all, it's his birthday and it's supposed to be about him."

"Are you ever going to tell me _why_ you're so angry at Gibbs?" Leah questioned.

"I already told you," Tony said, tightly. "He kept Orli's phone call a secret from me."

"The one where she said she had suspicions?"

"Yes."

She opened the cabinet and took out some coffee. "Do you know if Orli ever called back? When she found out that Ziva really was alive?"

He clenched his jaw. "No."

Leah paused, trying not to give him an incredulous look. "So you're angry because he didn't let us know about someone else's suspicions?"

Tony shut the dishwasher and started it up. The whir of the machine drowned out the movie that the two kids were watching in the living room. "She knew."

"I'm confused. Who knew? And who knew what?"

"It doesn't matter now, Leah. Ziva's dead."

Little footsteps could be heard approaching, signaling the end of their conversation. Jack appeared, rubbing his eyes. Tony smiled at him, scooped him up, and declared, "Looks like someone is ready for bed."

Leah knew that the conversation was effectively over. Every time she tried to breach the subject, Tony shut down or the kids interrupted and she had promised not to force Tony or to meddle in any way to get him to talk about it. Frustrated, Leah went to put on a pot of coffee. She had work to do and coffee helped her think…

A knock on the back door startled her. Leah glanced up to see Tim standing on stoop. She quickly went to let Tim in and shut the door behind him. "Everything okay with the babies?"

"Yeah, still incubating as Penny likes to say," Tim said with a fond smile. "Tony around?"

"He just went to put Jack to bed."

"Has he said anything?"

Leah shook her head. "No. Other than mentioning a phone call back when where in Italy. Is there really all over the chance that Gibbs might have known Ziva was alive?"

Tim sat down at the island and ran his hands over his face. Tony had been a bear at work that week, which had not been a very good first impression for Nick Torres. "When we met up with Orli in Israel, she told us that she crafted the story about rogue Mossad agents going after Ziva. They wanted to deter Eli's true enemies. She assured us that she never called Gibbs back and confirmed that Ziva was alive—that was Ziva's request apparently, I'm not sure."

She took out two coffee mugs from the cabinets. "That seems like a silly think to get mad over."

He sighed. "Tony felt lied too; Ziva being alive could have changed everything in your marriage, in your family."

"If Gibbs didn't know for sure…"

"Oh, he knew for sure," Tony snapped, returning to the kitchen.

"You keep saying that, but you won't tell me _how_ he knew," Leah countered.

Tony glanced at his partner for a moment, his jaw clenched, face hard. "Ziva knew about the adoption."

Tim saw surprise flicker in Leah's eyes. "That doesn't mean Gibbs told her."

"How else do you think she found out?" Tony shouted. "The Easter Bunny?"

"Oh my God," Leah whispered, hand flying up to cover her mouth.

"See, now you see why I'm so angry!" Tony growled. "Gibbs spoke to her and didn't tell me."

Leah collapsed on the stool next to Tim, while the NCIS agent tried to argue that Ziva could have learned about Tali's adoption from anyone—she had the means to uncover even a closed adoption record; she could have learned it from Schmeil—"She learned it from me."

Tony and Tim stopped their bickering to stare at her. Leah swallowed the lump in her throat and said, firmer this time, "She learned about the adoption from me."

"How… is that possible?" Tony asked. "Are records show that Ziva never came to D.C after Tali."

"She called," Leah said.

"You? She called you?"

"No, actually, she was calling you."

Tim swore underneath his breath. All this time… _Ziva spoke with the one person who wouldn't recognize her voice._ "She didn't identify herself."

Leah shook her head, sheepishly looking at her husband. "She told me that she was Ziva's aunt—Nettie, I think she said her name was. She'd heard that Tali had come to live in America with her father and she wanted to check up on her. You weren't home, Tony, and she then asked if she was speaking to your wife. I said yes…"

Tony's shoulders were stiff. He wasn't sure how Ziva had obtained their number, he was sure she had used her influence as a former Mossad operative to get it. He was more shocked that it had been _Leah_ that had talked to her. "What did she want?"

"She asked how things were going with Tali, if she was settling in," Leah said, tears springing in her eyes. "I told her that Tali had adjusted well, that she loved playing with her baby brother and she was excited about meeting her baby sister."

"How did the subject of the adoption come up?" Tim questioned, noticing the fight leaving Tony's eyes.

"I'm not sure," Leah replied. "I think we got to talking about how dangerous Tony's job was and she asked what we were doing in case of his death on the job… she said she was too old to be assigned as a legal guardian… that's when… that's when I told her that I had adopted Tali as my own."

He couldn't believe what he was hearing. His wife had unknowingly spoken to his former lover, the mother of his first child… _and didn't even tell you._ Tony was caught in an emotional storm of hurt and anger. "Why didn't you say something?"

She looked at Tim, who quickly looked away. "It seemed like an innocent call. She didn't seem hostile, she sounded… she sounded relieved when I told her I had adopted Tali. Tony, I didn't know it was her; I would have told you."

Tony ran his hands through his hair. He stomped across the kitchen and grabbed his keys. "I need some air."

Leah immediately looked fearful. "Where are you going?"

"Out."

"How long?"

"I don't know, okay?"

Tim shuddered when the door slammed shut and Tony was gone. They heard his car start up in the driveway, watched the headlights disappear and then there was nothing but the sound of the dishwasher in the kitchen.

Leah jumped up and ran to fetch the coffee. Her hand shook as she poured herself and Tim a mug, but somehow she managed to do it without spilling any. She offered Tim a mug. "He'll… he'll come home right?"

"Of course he will," Tim said, with a reassuring smile. "He just…. Needs time to process. You know, after he broke up with Jeanne, he vanished for a few days. I mean, I had a good idea where he was because I tracked him… but he needed to get away. I don't think he'll be gone that long for this."

"Believe me, Tim, if I had any idea that it was Ziva I was talking too, I would have told him," Leah said, her voice wavering. "I know what she meant to him, I know that he never got _real_ closure to that relationship, and Tali, I would never want to keep her mother from her."

Tim nodded and fixed his coffee. "Let's give him a couple of hours, and if he doesn't call or show up by then, I can trace him; just to give you peace of mind tonight, okay?"

Leah agreed; never had she thought that _she_ would have been the one to commit the unforgivable act in Tony's eyes, but she just might have. And it could effectively end their marriage forever.

* * *

Rain was pelting his windshield when he finally pulled his sporty sedan into the driveway. Tony killed the lights as he parked the car and shut it down. For the longest time, he sat there, listening to the loud raindrops on the glass.

Despite the late hour, Tony could see that the light was on in the master bedroom. He didn't expect Leah to go to bed, not while he was still "out". After a few hours, he was certain that Tim had tracked his cell phone for her, to let her know that he had not booked it out state. That had never been his intention, he just needed time to sort out his thoughts, the shifting emotions between immense sadness and anger.

Tony pulled his keys from the ignition and opened his door. He darted out into the rain, locking his car up and then let himself into the house. He reset the alarm and brushed the raindrops from his hair. Before he went upstairs to the bedroom, Tony made sure to take off his muddy shoes. Leah wouldn't be happy if he tracked mud through the house…

He expected to find Leah awake, but instead he found her fast asleep. She was laying in the middle of their bed, the baby sleeping on her chest, Jack curled against her on the right and Tali curled against her on the left; Rick Blaine was the only one half awake and he looked up at Tony with a sleepy yawn when the federal agent stepped into the room.

"At least one of you waited up for me," Tony jokingly whispered as he snapped a photo on his phone.

Rick Blaine stretch his little paws and snuggled across Leah's feet. Tony chuckled and went to place his keys and phone on the dresser. He sat down on the edge of the bed, being careful not to disturb his sleeping family, and he took his shoes off.

Gently, Tony reached out and kissed each of them on the cheek. Leah was the only one whose eyes fluttered open at the touch. He brushed her hair back from her face and smiled at her. "Go back to sleep. We can talk in the morning."

Leah let out a soft, shuddering breath. "Are you…are you mad at me?"

Tony wiped the stray tears from her cheek. "You didn't know it was her. How could you?"

"I love you; I didn't mean to hurt you," Leah whispered.

"You could never hurt me, bella," Tony said with a loving smile. He leaned over and kissed her, softly. "Go back to sleep."

"Do you think she was sad that I adopted her daughter?"

"Yes, but she had peace of mind knowing Tali is taken care of."

"Are you going to talk to Gibbs now?" Leah questioned, sleepily.

"Yes," Tony whispered. "I owe him the chance to come clean and… I'm the one that broke rule 8. Never assume."

Leah shifted, gently scooping the baby against her, and careful not to wake any of the sleeping children. "I was thinking, about that phone call, it happened while we were away, in Italy. We both know how we came back from that trip…"

Tony absentmindedly stroked her hair. Italy was such a hazy memory for him. He knew that they had gone, he knew that Tali and Jack had loved every second of it, but the exact specifics of it he couldn't recall. _Guilt and grief do things to a man…_

"Can you help get these little ones in bed?" she asked, interrupting his thoughts.

He nodded and gently picked up Jack in one arm. Tony moved off the bed, resting his son against his shoulder and then went around to the other side to pick up Tali in the other. With both kids secured in his arms he slowly made his way down the steep steps to the second-floor hallway.

Somehow he managed to get Jack into his crib—he was getting too big for it. The little boy had asked Gibbs to make him a new bed, and Tony was sure that the former marine was going to deliver it in time for Jack's birthday, until then, the little man was just going to have to squeeze in the crib. Of course, Jack was like his father—he could sleep anywhere.

Tali was a different story. She was easy enough to get back into her bed, but the moment Tony let go of her to pull the blankets up, her little eyes popped open. All she did was smile at him before falling back to sleep, but it made his heart skip a beat. Her mother had chosen to lie about being alive so she could live a normal, happy life. Ziva had been willing to walk away, allow another woman to replace her, to keep Tali from harm.

Tony let that sink in before he felt exhaustion settling in and heard his bed call his name. He slipped out of his tee shirt and jeans, and crawled into bed with Leah, wrapping her soundly in his arms and burying his nose in her hair. For the first time in weeks, he slept through the night.


	17. Chapter 17

**Warnings:** Same as usual.

 **A/N:** Here is the final chapter of this story. I think (or hopefully I think) I tied up all those lose ends that the finale left us with. I plan on continuing this verse at some point, I have some story ideas kicking around in my noggin and these little DiNozzo kids really do have my heart. I hope that you continue to enjoy them! **Thanks for all the support!**

* * *

"Gibbs?" Tony called down the basements steps. "Are you down there?"

"Yeah," Gibbs called back, sanding away at the headboard for Jack's new bed. He glanced up and watched as Tony climbed down the steps into the dimly lit basement. He saw a container in the NCIS agent's hand, as well as a travel mug of coffee.

Tony stepped off the last stair and headed towards the work bench. He put the plastic container onto the table and smiled, tensely. "Leah made some muffins. I thought I would bring you some. I'm sure you're not eating properly since coming back from the hospital."

Gibbs shrugged. "I'm eating just fine. Abby has been making sure I don't exert myself." He watched Tony's face for a moment, pausing his work, and asked, "You didn't come here to just bring me muffins?"

"No," Tony said, shaking his head. "Broke rule 8; I guess because I knew Orli had called you and told you she thought Ziva was alive, you knew—and that you were the one to tell Ziva about Tali being adopted by Leah."

"Told you the truth, Tony," Gibbs said. "I only spoke to Orli that one time. She never called me back. I figured the investigation never panned out. Tony—if I had any gut feeling that Ziva was still alive, I would have told you. Hell, looking back maybe I should have told you when Orli called—but you were in Italy."

Tony glanced at the headboard that was being crafted for his son. "Would you have told me one the Cape?"

Gibbs straightened his shoulders, recalling the condition he had found Tony in on the Cape. "I was planning on it; until I saw you, and I saw how far of a depression you had fallen in."

"So you decided that it was something that you decided I didn't need to know?"

"Let's say I would have told you; what would you have done with the information?"

"What do you mean?"

Gibbs sipped his own coffee and reached for the container. He opened it and pulled out a muffin. "Do you remember Dana Hutton?"

Tony's brow furrowed in confusion. He wasn't sure what that old case had to do with any of this. "Yes. I do."

"Do you remember how obsessed you got with finding her?" Gibbs asked.

"Yeah. I wasn't very smart," Tony admitted. "I don't understand what Dana Hutton has to do with you telling me about Ziva."

"DiNozzo, you had already gone chasing after Ziva all over Israel," Gibbs said. "I couldn't let you do that again. I couldn't let you have another Dana Hutton because this time the consequences could have been worse."

"My marriage would have been over," Tony sighed. "Leah told me a long time ago she couldn't compete with a ghost."

"There was no sense in chasing a ghost that didn't want you around, Tony."

Tony suddenly flashed back to Dana all over again, how his obsession to find her was to prove that the perfect woman _could_ see something in him to Ziva. Maybe Gibbs was right. There wasn't any point in chasing after someone that didn't want you, didn't even bother to tell you that you had a child. "You were never curious if Orli's suspicions were true?"

Gibbs pulled a stool up and sat down. "Of course I was, but I had a lot of other things on my mind. First, everyone was worried about _you._ If I went and found Ziva alive, I wasn't sure what that was going to do to you, Tony. Second, we were working a little shorthanded because Reeves wasn't always around. I thought about it again, when that necklace showed up and I made an excuse, it was sent to me by Schmeil or Nettie… _not_ Ziva."

The NCIS agent stared at his feet, shuffling them back and forth. "When Malachi told me she knew about Leah adopting Tali, I was certain you had been the one to tell her, that you were keeping it a secret from me that Ziva was alive. It made me… it made me so angry, boss."

He understood. Gibbs would have been just as angry if the situation was reversed in some way. "Which is why I left your house that night before you said something that later you'd regret—and I didn't think you wanted your kids to see you so angry. They worship the ground you walk on, DiNozzo."

A big grin spread across his face. Tony sipped his coffee. "Yeah, Leah tells me that all the time. I know it won't last forever. I know that they're going to get bigger and you know, resent me for things. And Tali didn't deserve to find out that way about her mother."

"Who told Ziva? About the adoption?" Gibbs asked, curious. If it hadn't been him, he could only think of a couple of other people that would have.

"Funny you should ask," Tony said with a chuckle. "It was Leah."

"Leah?"

"Apparently, Ziva called looking for me—I wasn't home. She talked to Leah."

Gibbs let that sink in for a moment. "Did Leah know she was talking to Ziva?" He found it hard to believe that Leah would never have mentioned that phone call to her husband if she knew it was Ziva.

Tony sadly shook his head. "No. When Ziva found out that I wasn't home she told Leah that she was her Aunt Nettie, and she was checking in on Tali. According to Leah, she never called back, and she seemed relieved when Leah mentioned that she had adopted her. Sorry, I… um… got angry at you. Like I said, I broke rule 8."

"You had every right to be angry."

"Not at you."

"DiNozzo, don't argue with me. It's water under the bridge."

"I thought we agreed to be more open with one another; old habits die hard, huh?"

Gibbs silently agreed, and then he sighed. "It's Sunday, DiNozzo. You should be home with your family, not hanging around here with me."

Tony smiled and glanced at the stairs for a moment. "There was coffee and muffins on the island this morning when I came downstairs, it was pretty clear what my wife wanted me to do before we spend the day together." His smile faded and he clutched his coffee. "At least now we know the truth."

"What will you tell Tali when she's old enough?"

"Her mother died protecting her. She doesn't need to know the logistics."

"And left her with a loving family; that's the only detail she needs to know."

"I don't want to say Tali is happier here," Tony said, "but I know she's safer."

"She is," Gibbs concurred. "Want to help me finish this bed for Jack?"

"Yeah, I've got some time," Tony said, grabbing some sand paper. "I think Jack would get a kick out of us making his bed together."

* * *

On Monday, the team was thrown a new case and Tony found himself arriving home very late. Leah was still somewhat awake, as was her custom to not sleep until he was home safe and sound; the kids had probably all been sleeping for hours before Tony got home.

Loosening his tie, Tony watched as Leah's eyes traveled up from her book to find him, relief washing through her blue orbs. He always felt a twinge of guilt when he saw that reaction and he offered a tired smile. "Hi, love."

She closed her book and clasped her hands in her lap. "Hi. Is everything alright?"

He nodded. "Fine. Everyone made it home safely."

"Delilah called me," Leah said, softly. "She never calls, not when you guys work so late."

"I think she's getting anxious the closer to the due date we get," Tony replied, honestly. "Trust me. I'm keeping Timmy out of harm's way."

Leah swallowed the lump in her throat. "She knows that. I think… she gets it now. She understands how terrifying it is to sit here, alone, speculating while your kids sleep."

Tony took a deep breath and sat down on the edge of the bed. He took his expensive loafers off and dropped them to the floor. Stretching out on his side, he wrapped one arm around her waist and pulled her close to him. His lips sought hers in a gentle kiss. He felt her hands slip under his shirt and up his chest… just as the door to their bedroom flew open. They separated, quickly, as their daughter ran into their bedroom.

Tali was crying. Her curly hair wild and eyes wide. "Mama!" she sobbed. "Mama, the mean man hurt you and Abba!"

"Come here, baby," Leah said, gesturing for the little girl to climb onto the bed with them. "It's okay."

"It was just a bad dream," Tony assured Tali, stroking her hair.

"I don't want you to go away like Ima!" Tali cried, sucking in large gulps of air.

Leah glanced at Tony, nervously. Tali's nightmares were so different than Jack's. While their son occasionally had the bad dream, his involved scary monsters under the bed; their daughter on the other hand, the older she got, the more she realized and understood her mother was dead—her nightmares were frequent, and they always involved either Tony or Leah dying.

Tony rubbed Tali's small back, soothing her. He knew he couldn't promise the little girl that nothing was going to happen to him or to Leah, he could at least do his best to assure her that she was going to be safe. "Tali, you're never going to be alone, alright?"

Tali snuggled closer to Leah, hiding her tear stained face. "O-okay," she gulped. "Can I sleep here?"

"Yes," Tony and Leah answered at the same time.

In a flash, the little girl stopped crying, settled down and fell back to sleep. Tony smiled, sadly and whispered, "So much for our romantic evening."

Leah pulled the throw blanket over Tali. "My parents offered to take them next weekend. You can romance me then."

Tony grinned, devilishly at her. "Really now?"

"Daddy? Mama?" Jack called, just before entering the room, rubbing his eyes. "I hear Tali cry."

"Come on, bud," Tony said, knowing that Jack was not going to leave his sister's side when she was upset.

Jack crawled in, wedged his little body between his father and sister, and fell back to sleep.

Tony shook his head. "Should I go get the baby and make it a party?"

Leah smiled sweetly at him, leaned over their sleeping children, and kissed his cheek. She then put her book on the night stand and shut the light off.

He watched as she fell asleep. Tony felt an overwhelming feeling of love wash over him. Secrets had been kept from him, lies had been told to him, but nothing was going to change the fact that those secrets and lies had created his little unconventional family.


End file.
